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Nano Research 2021, 14(6): 1967-1972 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-020-2866-x
Research Article | Issue | Published: 09 June 2020

Efficient photovoltaic effect in graphene/h-BN/silicon heterostructure self-powered photodetector

Show Author's Information Ui Yeon Won1,  Boo Heung Lee1,  Young Rae Kim1,2,  Won Tae Kang1,2,  Ilmin Lee1,  Ji Eun Kim1,  Young Hee Lee2,  Woo Jong Yu1( )
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea
Center for Integrated Nanostructure Physics, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea
Keywords:
graphene, hexagonal boron nitride, self-powered, van der Waals heterostructure
Topics:
Boron nitrideGraphene devices IIIPhotodetectorsPhotonsSiliconV semiconductorsVan der Waals forces
Cite this article:
Won UY, Lee BH, Kim YR, et al. Efficient photovoltaic effect in graphene/h-BN/silicon heterostructure self-powered photodetector. Nano Research, 2021, 14(6): 1967-1972. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-020-2866-x
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

Graphene (Gr)/Si-based optoelectronic devices have attracted a lot of academic attention due to the simpler fabrication processes, low costs, and higher performance of their two-dimensional (2D)/three-dimensional (3D) hybrid interfaces in Schottky junction that promotes electron-hole separation. However, due to the built-in potential of Gr/Si as a photodetector, the Iph/Idark ratio is often hindered near zero-bias at relatively low illumination intensity. This is a major drawback in self-powered photodetectors. In this study, we have demonstrated a self-powered van der Waals heterostructure photodetector in the visible range using a Gr/hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN)/Si structure and clarified that the thin h-BN insertion can engineer asymmetric carrier transport and avoid interlayer coupling at the interface. The dark current was able to be suppressed by inserting an h-BN insulator layer, while maintaining the photocurrent with minimal decrease at near zero-bias. As a result, the normalized photocurrent-to-dark ratio (NPDR) is improved more than 104 times. Also, both Iph/Idark ratio and detectivity, increase by more than 104 times at -0.03 V drain voltage. The proposed Gr/h-BN/Si heterostructure is able to contribute to the introduction of next-generation photodetectors and photovoltaic devices based on graphene or silicon.


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Electronic supplementary material
About this article

Efficient photovoltaic effect in graphene/h-BN/silicon heterostructure self-powered photodetector

Show Author's information Ui Yeon Won1, Boo Heung Lee1, Young Rae Kim1,2, Won Tae Kang1,2, Ilmin Lee1, Ji Eun Kim1, Young Hee Lee2, Woo Jong Yu1( )
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea
Center for Integrated Nanostructure Physics, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea

Abstract

Graphene (Gr)/Si-based optoelectronic devices have attracted a lot of academic attention due to the simpler fabrication processes, low costs, and higher performance of their two-dimensional (2D)/three-dimensional (3D) hybrid interfaces in Schottky junction that promotes electron-hole separation. However, due to the built-in potential of Gr/Si as a photodetector, the Iph/Idark ratio is often hindered near zero-bias at relatively low illumination intensity. This is a major drawback in self-powered photodetectors. In this study, we have demonstrated a self-powered van der Waals heterostructure photodetector in the visible range using a Gr/hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN)/Si structure and clarified that the thin h-BN insertion can engineer asymmetric carrier transport and avoid interlayer coupling at the interface. The dark current was able to be suppressed by inserting an h-BN insulator layer, while maintaining the photocurrent with minimal decrease at near zero-bias. As a result, the normalized photocurrent-to-dark ratio (NPDR) is improved more than 104 times. Also, both Iph/Idark ratio and detectivity, increase by more than 104 times at -0.03 V drain voltage. The proposed Gr/h-BN/Si heterostructure is able to contribute to the introduction of next-generation photodetectors and photovoltaic devices based on graphene or silicon.

Keywords: graphene, hexagonal boron nitride, self-powered, van der Waals heterostructure

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Publication history
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Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 11 February 2020
Revised: 20 April 2020
Accepted: 09 May 2020
Published: 09 June 2020
Issue date: June 2021

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (No. NRF-2018R1A2B2008069), R&D program of MOTIE/KEIT (No. 10064078), and Multi-Ministry Collaborative R&D Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea, funded by KNPA, MSIT, MOTIE, ME, and NFA (No. 2017M3D9A1073539). This work was supported under the framework of international cooperation program managed by the National Research Foundation of Korea (No. 2018K2A9A2A06017491). Y. H. L. acknowledges this work was supported from the Institute for Basic Science (No. IBS-R011-D1).

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