High-performance single crystal diamond pixel photodetector with nanosecond rise time for solar-blind imaging

Solar-blind ultraviolet imaging detector is widely applied in many commercial and military fields, such as missile warning, guidance, ultraviolet communication, biomedical analysis, and police reconnaissance. High-performance pixel photodetector is the core of imaging technology. Therefore, its construction attracts intensive attentions in recent years. In this work, 8 × 8 planar pixels were constructed on high quality single crystal diamond using ultraviolet direct writing lithography. A typical pixel photodetector in metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) structure achieved outstanding photo-response properties of a low dark current of 10−13–10−12 A at 50 V, a high light-dark current switching ratio over 105), a high responsivity of 22.6 A/W, and a decent specific detectivity of 4.2 × 1014 Jones. Moreover, the detector has a fast response time of 13 ns. Additional optoelectronic studies demonstrate the strong homogeneity and repeatability of the photodetectors array, enabling it to serve as a reliable solar-blind imaging photodetector with high spatial resolution.