Emerging layered semiconductors present multiple advantages for optoelectronic technologies including high carrier mobilities, strong light-matter interactions, and tunable optical absorption and emission. Here, metal-semiconductor-metal avalanche photodiodes (APDs) are fabricated from Bi₂O₂Se crystals, which consist of electrostatically bound [Bi₂O₂]²⁺ and [Se]^2- layers. The resulting APDs possess an intrinsic carrier multiplication factor up to 400 at 7 K with a responsivity gain exceeding 3,000 A/W and bandwidth of ~ 400 kHz at a visible wavelength of 515.6 nm, ultimately resulting in a gain bandwidth product exceeding 1 GHz. Due to exceptionally low dark currents, Bi₂O₂Se APDs also yield high detectivities up to 4.6 × 10¹⁴ Jones. A systematic analysis of the photocurrent temperature and bias dependence reveals that the carrier multiplication process in Bi₂O₂Se APDs is consistent with a reverse biased Schottky diode model with a barrier height of ~ 44 meV, in contrast to the charge trapping extrinsic gain mechanism that dominates most layered semiconductor phototransistors. In this manner, layered Bi₂O₂Se APDs provide a unique platform that can be exploited in a diverse range of high-performance photodetector applications.

Current methods of synthesizing single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) result in racemic mixtures that have impeded the study of left- and right-handed SWNTs. Here we present a method of isolating different SWNT enantiomers using density gradient ultracentrifugation. Enantiomer separation is enabled by the chiral surfactant sodium cholate, which discriminates between left- and right-handed SWNTs and thus induces subtle differences in their buoyant densities. This sorting strategy can be employed for simultaneous enrichment by handedness and roll-up vector of SWNTs having diameters ranging from 0.7 to 1.5 nm. In addition, circular dichroism of enantiomer refined samples enables identification of high-energy optical transitions in SWNTs.