Large-area flexible and transparent UV photodetector based on cross-linked Ag NW@ZnO NRs with high performance

doi:10.1016/j.jmst.2021.08.037

Abstract

Abstract:

A series of large-area, flexible and transparent ultraviolet (UV) photodetectors (PDs) based on Ag nanowire (NW)@ZnO nanorods (NRs) are fabricated by an inexpensive, facile and effective approach. These Ag NW@ZnO NRs are successfully synthesized using a two-step method in an oil bath with a high surface-to-volume ratio and good crystallinity. The PDs are fabricated by drop-coating with different drop-coating times on the surface of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) coupled with Au electrodes. By optimizing the cross-linked network of Ag NW@ZnO NRs, PD2 with a size greater than 25 mm exhibits excellent photoresponse under UV light illumination of 365 nm (1.3 mW cm^-2) with a bias of 5 V: a high sensitivity of over 10³, and a much shorter rise/decay time of 2.6 s/2.3 s. Simultaneously, the detector exhibits an average transmittance of more than 70% in the visible light region, as well as good flexibility and excellent mechanical stability under a bending angle of 120° over 1000 circles bending. These integral advantages have significant potential for practical applications and mass production.

Key words: Ag NW@ZnO NRs, Low dark current, Rapid response, Transparent, Flexible, Large-area

Lin Zhang, Nuomei Li, Qiuchen Ma, Jiahui Ding, Chuang Chen, Zhaocheng Hu, Weiwei Zhao, Yufeng Li, Huanhuan Feng, Mingyu Li, Hongjun Ji. Large-area flexible and transparent UV photodetector based on cross-linked Ag NW@ZnO NRs with high performance[J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2022, 110: 65-72.

Figures/Tables 7

Fig. 1. Appearance of Ag NWs by (a) low magnification SEM, (b) high magnification SEM, and (c) TEM. Appearance of Ag NW@ZnO NPs by (d) SEM, and (e, f) TEM. Appearance of Ag NW@S-ZnO NRs by (g) SEM and (h, i) TEM. Appearance of Ag NW@L-ZnO NRs by (j) SEM and (k, l) TEM. (m) XRD patterns of Ag NWs, Ag NW@ZnO NPs and Ag NW@ZnO NRs. (n) Absorption spectra of Ag NW@S-ZnO NRs and Ag NW@L-ZnO NRs and the inset shows the relationship between (αhv)2 and the photon energy (hv) of Ag NW@ZnO NRs.

Fig. 2. (a) Schematic illustration of Ag NW@S-ZnO NR-based UV detector. (b) UV-Vis optical transmittance spectra of Ag NW@S-ZnO NR thin films with different drop-coating times. The insets are corresponding SEM images of Ag NW@S-ZnO NRs network of PD1, PD2, and PD3. (c) Appearance of Ag NW@ZnO NRs film on HIT-logo paper.

Fig. 3. (a) Typical I-V characteristics of Ag NW@S-ZnO NR-based UV PDs with different drop-coating times in the dark and under UV light illumination (365 nm, 1.3 mW cm-2) when the bias voltage ranged from -5 to +5 V. (b) The sensitivity as a function of the voltage bias. (c) The switching characteristics measured at 5 V bias in dark and under UV illumination (365 nm, 1.3 mW cm-2). (d) The rise/decay time. (e) Photocurrent under different light intensities of PD2. (f) The linear relationship between light intensity and photocurrent, and its responsivity.

Fig. 4. (a) Energy band diagram of ZnO NRs/Ag NWs in dark and under UV light. (b) Electron flow path in Ag NW@ZnO NRs.

Fig. 5. The switching characteristics of UV PDs measured at 5 V bias under dark environment and UV illumination (365 nm, 1.3 mW cm-2) with different Ag NWs/ZnO NRs weight ratios: (a) PD4: 0%, (b) PD5: 0.4%, (c) PD6: 1.1%, (d) PD7: 1.8%. (e) Sensitivity. (f) Response time.

Fig. 6. (a) Photographs of Ag NW@S-ZnO NR-based UV PDs with different bending angles. (b) The switching performance measured at 5 V bias under 1.3 mW cm-2 illumination (365 nm) with different bending angles and after 1000 circles bending. (c) The corresponding response time.

Table 1. Summary of the performance of Ag NW@S-ZnO NR-based UV PDs and other ZnO hybrid-based UV PD.

Device structure	Size	Power	Bias	Sensitivity	Responsivity	Dark current	Rise time	Decay time	Transmittance	Self-powered	flexibility	Refs.
ZnO film	2 mm	60 mW cm^-2	5 V	-	2.16 A W^-1	-	15 s	330 s	90%	no	no	[50]
ZnO NRs	5 mm	70 μW cm^-2	0.5 V	25	-	63.2 nA	100 s	120 s	-	no	yes	[43]
ZnO NWs	20 μm	77.5 μW cm^-2	1 V	2.5 × 10⁵	7.5 × 10⁶ A W^-1	20 pA	100 s	50 s	-	no	yes	[51]
Ag NPs/ZnO NRs	-	2.74 mW cm^-2	-4 V	3628	99.54 A W^-1	-	3.52 s	0.33 s	-	no	yes	[27]
Ag NPs/ZnO NFs	-	2.5 mW cm^-2	0 V	2.5 × 10⁴	1280 μA W^-1	0.02 pA	3.90 s	4.71 s	89%	yes	yes	[52]
Graphene/ZnO NWs	10 μm	620 μW cm^-2	0.1 V	4200	347 A W^-1	-	0.16 s	0.19 s	-	no	no	[25]
CNT/ZnO NWs	700 μm	3 μW cm^-2	-2 V	1.5 × 10³	200 A W^-1	2 nA	14 s	23 s	Semi-transparent	no	no	[26]
Cu NWs/ZnO thin film	-	800 μW cm^-2	1 V	-	-	-	10.35 s	2 s	-	no	no	[30]
ZnO/NiO film	6 mm	753 μW cm^-2	0 V	-	0.415 mA W^-1	0.001 pA	7.5 s	4.8 s	90%	yes	no	[29]
Ag NW@S-ZnO NRs (PD2)	26 mm	1.3 mW cm^-2	5 V	∼4 × 10³	6.5 μA W^-1	∼1 pA	2.6 s	2.3 s	70%	yes	yes	This work

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