title: Optimizing performance of silicon-based p-n junction photodetectors by the piezo-phototronic effect.
abstract: Silicon-based p-n junction photodetectors (PDs) play an essential role in optoelectronic applications for photosensing due to their outstanding compatibility with well-developed integrated circuit technology. The piezo-phototronic effect, a three-way coupling effect among semiconductor properties, piezoelectric polarizations, and photon excitation, has been demonstrated as an effective approach to tune/modulate the generation, separation, and recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pairs during optoelectronic processes in piezoelectric-semiconductor materials. Here, we utilize the strain-induced piezo-polarization charges in a piezoelectric n-ZnO layer to modulate the optoelectronic process initiated in a p-Si layer and thus optimize the performances of p-Si/ZnO NWs hybridized photodetectors for visible sensing via tuning the transport property of charge carriers across the Si/ZnO heterojunction interface. The maximum photoresponsivity R of 7.1 A/W and fastest rising time of 101 ms were obtained from these PDs when applying an external compressive strain of -0.10‰ on the ZnO NWs, corresponding to relative enhancement of 177% in R and shortening to 87% in response time, respectively. These results indicate a promising method to enhance/optimize the performances of non-piezoelectric semiconductor material (e.g., Si) based optoelectronic devices by the piezo-phototronic effect.
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology , Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0245, United States.
authors.forename: Zhaona
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Ruomeng
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Xiaonan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Caofeng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Wenzhuo
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Zhong Lin
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: photodetector; piezo-phototronic effect; p−n junction; silicon-based