A comparative study of nanowire based infrared p+-i-n+ photodetectors

• We present a comparative study of electrical and optical properties of two types of p+-i-n+ photodetectors based on self-assembled ensembles of vertical InP nanowires (NWs) monolithically grown on InP. The detectors differ in the type of p+ contact, one detector geometry has p+-i-n+ segments integrated into the NWs (type A) while the other detector has i-n+ NW segments grown directly on a p+ substrate(type B). The samples were prepared by first depositing 80 nm Au nanoparticles on a p+ InP substrate using an aerosol technique and subsequently growing NWs using MOVPE. The NWs have a polytypecrystal structure of alternating wurtzite and zincblende segments. The processing of the detectors include deposition of SiO2, followed by an etching step to remove the oxide from the tip of the NWs, and finally sputtering of ITO on 1x1 mm2 device areas. The two most prominent differences between the detectors concern the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics and the spatial location of generated photocurrent. From spectrally resolved photocurrent measurements, we conclude that the photocurrent in detector type A is primarily generated in the NWs, whereas the photocurrent in type B detectors mainly stems from the substrate. Photogenerated carriers in the substrate diffuse to the NWs where they are effectively funnelled into the NWs. The I-V characteristics of the type A detector displays a non-trivial transport behaviour for forward biases, whereas type B shows excellent rectifying behavior with an ideality factor of about 2.5. We will discuss detailed analysis of the spectral fingerprints of the two detector types revealing the mixed crystal phase of the polytype NWs and bandstructure effects, temperature dependence of the I-V characteristics and typical photodetector parameters.

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Nanoteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Nano-technology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Nanowire

Infrared Photodetectors

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

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