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Polarization-sensitive broadband photodetector using a black phosphorus vertical p–n junction

Nature Nanotechnology volume 10, pages 707–713 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

The ability to detect light over a broad spectral range is central to practical optoelectronic applications and has been successfully demonstrated with photodetectors of two-dimensional layered crystals such as graphene and MoS2. However, polarization sensitivity within such a photodetector remains elusive. Here, we demonstrate a broadband photodetector using a layered black phosphorus transistor that is polarization-sensitive over a bandwidth from ∼400 nm to 3,750 nm. The polarization sensitivity is due to the strong intrinsic linear dichroism, which arises from the in-plane optical anisotropy of this material. In this transistor geometry, a perpendicular built-in electric field induced by gating can spatially separate the photogenerated electrons and holes in the channel, effectively reducing their recombination rate and thus enhancing the performance for linear dichroism photodetection. The use of anisotropic layered black phosphorus in polarization-sensitive photodetection might provide new functionalities in novel optical and optoelectronic device applications.

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Figure 1: Anisotropic electronic structure of layered BP.
Figure 2: Optical selection rules and broadband linear dichroism in BP.
Figure 3: BP photodetector with broadband response and polarization sensitivity.
Figure 4: Ambipolar operation and the vertical p–n junction in BP transistors.
Figure 5: Gate enhancement of linear dichroism detection by a vertical p–n junction in a BP EDLT.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering (contract no. DE-AC02-76SF00515). X.L., F.A., A.G.C. and M.L.B. acknowledge support from the Department of Energy (grant no. DE-FG07-ER46426). A.G.C. acknowledges the support of a Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship. G.J.Y and X.H.C acknowledge the support from Strategic Priority Research Program (B) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Stanford University, Stanford, 94305, California, USA

    Hongtao Yuan, Xiaoge Liu, Farzaneh Afshinmanesh, Wei Li, Gang Xu, Jie Sun, Biao Lian, Alberto G. Curto, Yasuyuki Hikita, Zhixun Shen, Shou-Cheng Zhang, Mark Brongersma, Harold Y. Hwang & Yi Cui

  2. Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, 94025, California, USA

    Hongtao Yuan, Yasuyuki Hikita, Zhixun Shen, Shou-Cheng Zhang, Mark Brongersma, Harold Y. Hwang & Yi Cui

  3. Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale and Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, Anhui, China

    Guojun Ye & Xianhui Chen

  4. Key Laboratory of Strongly-coupled Quantum Matter Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, 230026, Anhui, China

    Guojun Ye & Xianhui Chen

  5. High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, 230031, Anhui, China

    Xianhui Chen

  6. Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, 210093, Nanjing, China

    Xianhui Chen

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  1. Hongtao Yuan
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Contributions

H.T.Y., H.Y.H. and Y.C. conceived and designed the experiments. H.T.Y. performed sample fabrication and transport measurements. H.T.Y., X.G.L., F.A., A.G.C. and M.B. performed optical measurements. W.L. and Z.X.S. performed ARPES measurement. G.X., B.L. and S.C.Z. performed DFT calculations and theoretical analyses. X.G.L. performed the band bending calculation. J.S. performed transmission electron microscopy analysis. G.J.Y and X.H.C. grew the high-quality BP crystals. Y.H., M.B., Z.X.S., S.C.Z., X.H.C., H.Y.H. and Y.C. supervised the project and all authors contributed to data discussions. H.T.Y. wrote the manuscript, with input from all authors.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Harold Y. Hwang or Yi Cui.

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Yuan, H., Liu, X., Afshinmanesh, F. et al. Polarization-sensitive broadband photodetector using a black phosphorus vertical p–n junction. Nature Nanotech 10, 707–713 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2015.112

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