Enhancing Carrier Diffusion Length and Quantum Efficiency through Photoinduced Charge Transfer in Layered Graphene-Semiconducting Quantum Dot Devices

Optical Enhancement of Indirect Bandgap 2D Transition Metal Dichalcogenides for Multi-Functional Optoelectronic Sensors

The unique electrical and optical properties of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) make them attractive nanomaterials for optoelectronic applications, especially optical sensors. However, the optical characteristics of these materials are dependent on the number of layers. Monolayer TMDs have a direct bandgap that provides higher photoresponsivity compared to multilayer TMDs with an indirect bandgap. Nevertheless, multilayer TMDs are more appropriate for various photodetection applications due to their high carrier density, broad spectral response from UV to near-infrared, and ease of large-scale synthesis. Therefore, this review focuses on the modification of the optical properties of devices based on indirect bandgap TMDs and their emerging applications. Several successful developments in optical devices are examined, including band structure engineering, device structure optimization, and heterostructures. Furthermore, it introduces cutting-edge techniques and future directions for optoelectronic devices based on multilayer TMDs.

Substrate-Selective Adhesion of Metal Nanoparticles to Graphene Devices

Nanostructured electronic devices, such as those based on graphene, are typically grown on top of the insulator SiO₂. Their exposure to a flux of small size-selected silver nanoparticles has revealed remarkably selective adhesion: the graphene channel can be made fully metallized, while the insulating substrate remains coverage-free. This conspicuous contrast derives from the low binding energy between the metal nanoparticles and a contaminant-free passivated silica surface. In addition to providing physical insight into nanoparticle adhesion, this effect may be of value in applications involving deposition of metallic layers on device working surfaces: it eliminates the need for masking the insulating region and the associated extensive and potentially deleterious pre- and postprocessing.

High Performance Graphene-C60 -Bismuth Telluride-C60 -Graphene Nanometer Thin Film Phototransistor with Adjustable Positive and Negative Responses

Graphene is a promising candidate for the next-generation infrared array image sensors at room temperature due to its high mobility, tunable energy band, wide band absorption, and compatibility with complementary metal oxide semiconductor process. However, it is difficult to simultaneously obtain ultrafast response time and ultrahigh responsivity, which limits the further improvement of graphene photoconductive devices. Here, a novel graphene/C60 /bismuth telluride/C60 /graphene vertical heterojunction phototransistor is proposed. The response spectral range covers 400-1800 nm; the responsivity peak is 106 A W-1 ; and the peak detection rate and peak response speed reach 1014 Jones and 250 µs, respectively. In addition, the regulation of positive and negative photocurrents at a gate voltage is characterized and the ionization process in impurities of the designed phototransistor at a low temperature is analyzed. Tunable bidirectional response provides a new degree of freedom for phototransistors' signal resolution. The analysis of the dynamic change process of impurity energy level is conducted to improve the device's performance. From the perspective of manufacturing process, the ultrathin phototransistor (20-30 nm) is compatible with functional metasurface to realize wavelength or polarization selection, making it possible to achieve large-scale production of integrated spectrometer or polarization imaging sensor by nanoimprinting process.

High-Efficiency Infrared Sensing with Optically Excited Graphene-Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Heterostructures

Binary van der Waals heterostructures of graphene (Gr) and transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) have evolved as a promising candidate for photodetection with very high responsivity due to the separation of photo-excited electron-hole pairs across the interface. The spectral range of optoelectronic response in such hybrids has so far been limited by the optical bandgap of the light absorbing TMDC layer. Here, the bidirectionality of interlayer charge transfer is utilized for detecting sub-band gap photons in Gr-TMDC heterostructures. A Gr/MoSe₂ heterostructure sequentially driven by visible and near infra-red (NIR) photons is employed, to demonstrate that NIR induced back transfer of charge allows fast and repeatable detection of the low energy photons (less than the optical band gap of the TMDC layer). This mechanism provides photoresponsivity as high as ≈3000 A W^-1 close to the communication wavelength. The experiment provides a new strategy for achieving highly efficient photodetection over a broad range of energies beyond the spectral bandgap with the 2D semiconductor family.

Switchable two-color graphene quantum dot as a promising fluorescence probe to highly sensitive pH detection and bioimaging

Graphene quantum dots have been widely applied in biosensing, fluorescence imaging, biomedicine, energy storage and conversion and catalysis, but design and synthesis of polychromatic graphene quantum dot with high luminous efficiency still faces great challenges. The study reports synthesis of histidine, serine and pentaethylenehexamine-functionalized and boron-doped graphene quantum dot (HSPB-GQD) via one-step pyrolysis. The resulting HSPB-GQD consists of graphene sheets of 2-5 nm with carboxyl, hydroxyl, amino, imino and imidazole. Synergy of histidine, serine, pentaethylenehexamine and boron atoms improves the luminescence behavior. This realizes unique switchable two-color luminescence. UV excitation of 370 nm produces one strong blue fluorescence with the maximum emission wavelength of 455 nm and quantum yield of 72.34%. Vis. excitation of 480 nm produces one strong yellow fluorescence with the maximum emission wavelength of 560 nm and quantum yield of 72.59%. The multiple proton dissociation system constructed by nitrogen-containing and oxygen-containing groups makes yellow fluorescence sensitive to environmental pH value. The intensity linearly increases with increasing pH in the range of 4.5-10.0. Organic molecules and inorganic ions do not interfere pH detection. HSPB-GQD as a promising fluorescence probe with negligible effect on cell viability was successfully applied to pH detection in biological and environmental water samples and cell imaging.

Engineering sensitivity and spectral range of photodetection in van der Waals materials and hybrids

Exploration of van der Waals heterostructures in the field of optoelectronics has produced photodetectors with very high bandwidth as well as ultra-high sensitivity. Appropriate engineering of these heterostructures allows us to exploit multiple light-to-electricity conversion mechanisms, ranging from photovoltaic, photoconductive to photogating processes. These mechanisms manifest in different sensitivity and speed of photoresponse. In addition, integrating graphene-based hybrid structures with photonic platforms provides a high gain-bandwidth product, with bandwidths ≫1 GHz. In this review, we discuss the progression in the field of photodetection in 2D hybrids. We emphasize the physical mechanisms at play in diverse architectures and discuss the origin of enhanced photoresponse in hybrids. Recent developments in 2D photodetectors based on room temperature detection, photon-counting ability, integration with Si and other pressing issues, that need to be addressed for these materials to be integrated with industrial standards have been discussed.

Measuring the carrier diffusion length in quantum dot films using graphene as photocarrier density probe

The diffusion length of quantum dot (QD) films is a critical parameter to improve the performance of QD-based optoelectronic devices. The dot-to-dot hopping transport mechanism results in shorter diffusion lengths compared to bulk solids. Herein, we present an experimental method to measure the diffusion length in PbS QD films using single layer graphene as a charge collector to monitor the density of photogenerated carriers. By producing devices with different thicknesses, we can construct light absorption and photocarrier density profiles, allowing extracting light penetration depths and carrier diffusion lengths for electrons and holes. We realized devices with small (size: ∼2.5 nm) and large (size: ∼4.8 nm) QDs, and use λ = 532 nm and λ = 635 nm wavelength illumination. For small QDs, we obtain diffusion lengths of 180 nm for holes and 500 nm for electrons. For large QDs, we obtain diffusion lengths of 120 nm for holes and 150 nm for electrons. Our results show that films made of small QD films have longer diffusion lengths for holes and electrons. We also observe that wavelength illumination may have a small effect, with electrons showing a diffusion length of 500 and 420 nm under λ = 532 nm and λ = 635 nm illumination, respectively, which may be due to increased interactions between photocarriers for longer wavelengths with deeper penetration depths. Our results demonstrate an effective technique to calculate diffusion lengths of photogenerated electrons and holes and indicate that not only QD size but also wavelength illumination can play important roles in the diffusion and electrical transport of photocarriers in QD films.