In situ integration of Te/Si 2D/3D heterojunction photodetectors toward UV-vis-IR ultra-broadband photoelectric technologies

Over the past decade, 2D elemental semiconductors have emerged as an ever-increasingly important group in the 2D material family due to their simple crystal structures and compositions, and versatile physical properties. Taking advantage of the relatively small bandgap, outstanding carrier mobility, high air-stability and strong interactions with light, 2D tellurium (Te) has emerged as a compelling candidate for use in ultra-broadband photoelectric technologies. In this study, high-quality centimeter-scale Te nanofilms have been successfully produced by exploiting pulsed-laser deposition (PLD). By performing deposition on pre-patterned SiO2/Si substrates, a Te/Si 2D/3D heterojunction array is formed in situ. To our delight, taking advantage of the relatively small bandgap of Te, the Te/Si photodetectors demonstrate an ultra-broadband photoresponse from ultraviolet to near-infrared (370.6 nm to 2240 nm), enabling them to serve as important alternatives to conventional 2D materials such as MoS2. In addition, an outstanding on/off ratio of ∼108 and a fast response rate (a response/recovery time of 3.7 ms/4.4 ms) are achieved, which is associated with the large band offset and strong interfacial built-in electric field that contribute to suppressing the dark current and separating photocarriers. Beyond these, a 35 × 35 matrix array has been successfully constructed, where the devices exhibit comparable properties, with a production yield of 100% for 100 randomly tested devices. The average responsivity, external quantum efficiency and detectivity reach 249 A W-1, 76 350% and 1.15 × 1011 Jones, respectively, making the Te/Si devices among the best-performing 2D/3D heterojunction photodetectors. On the whole, this study has established that PLD is a promising technique for producing high-quality Te nanofilms with good scalability, and the Te/Si 2D/3D heterojunction provides a promising platform for implementing high-performance ultra-broadband photoelectronic technologies.