Ultrafast Self-Powered Copper Oxide Composite-Based Vis-NIR Photodetector Probe

Self-powered photodetectors are gaining attention due to their simplistic fabrication and easy system integration. This paper presents the feasibility of realizing a Cu2O(CuO) working electrode (WE)-based photoelectrochemical (PEC)-type photodetector (PD) probe with an arrangement of Cu/NaCl (W)/Cu2O(CuO), where the copper oxide composite electrode is fabricated using thermal treatment of Cu. It is observed that under zero bias and 470 nm irradiation, the photodetector can produce a responsivity and a specific detectivity of up to 20.11 mA W−1 and 2.62 × 108 Jones, respectively. Further, it can produce a photocurrent of up to 5 μA under 33.78 mW cm–2 optical power density while having a dark current of 50 nA. Moreover, the photodetector also shows a minimal rise and a recovery time of 20 and 140 ms, respectively. With a realized high responsivity, this proposed photodetector holds excellent potential for next-generation optoelectronic sensor applications.