A look at nanowire photodetectors

Nanowire (NW) photodetectors have emerged as a prominent group of optoelectronic materials that have been extensively researched over the last two decades. They belong to the one-dimensional nanostructures and operate in the regime of wave optics because the diameter of the NW is smaller than the wavelength of visible (VIS) light. Under these conditions, the absorption and reflection coefficients can be tuned by manipulating the NW geometry, selecting specific optical modes. The available literature is abundant in the technology development and properties of this new generation of materials, particularly in the context of their usefulness in advancing photodetectors. However, so far, no attempt has been made to determine their place in the broad group of optical radiation photodetectors. The present work addresses this challenge. To begin with, the basic techniques of NW growth are briefly presented, and the fundamental properties and their impact on the photodetector's performance are described. Then, the most important types of NW photodetectors are discussed. The final part of the paper analyses the NW photodetectors' performance against a broad family of VIS and infrared range detectors (including standard commercial detectors and new generation devices—with organic materials, perovskite, two-dimensional materials, and colloidal quantum dots). This analysis indicates the relatively immature fabrication technology of NW detectors compared to alternative new-generation ones, as evidenced by the large scatter in their performance. Some of the published results indicate the NW detectors' performance overestimation.