Photovoltaic Field-Effect Photodiodes Based on Double van der Waals Heterojunctions

High performance photodetectors based on van der Waals heterostructures (vdWHs) are crucial to developing micro-nano-optoelectronic devices. However, reports show that it is difficult to balance fast response and high sensitivity. In this work, we design a photovoltaic field-effect photodiode (PVFED) based on the WSe2/MoS2/WSe2 double vdWHs, where the photovoltage that originated from one vdWH modulates the optoelectronic characteristics of another vdWH. The proposed photodiode exhibits an excellent self-powered ability with a high responsivity of 715 mA·W–1 and fast response time of 45 μs. This work demonstrates an efficient method that optimizes the photoelectric performance of vdWH by introducing the photovoltaic field effect.