3D-branched hierarchical 3C-SiC/ZnO heterostructures for high-performance photodetectors

The ultra-sensitive photodetection of different wavelengths holds promising applications in high-performance optoelectronic devices and it requires an efficient and suitable semiconductor unit. Herein, we demonstrated the designable synthesis of 3D-branched hierarchical 3C-SiC/ZnO heterostructures by a three-step process and their assembling into an ultrasensitive photodetector. Microstructure analyses using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy reveal that the hierarchical 3C-SiC/ZnO heterostructure is composed of single-crystal 3C-SiC nanowires as a central stem and numerous well-aligned single-crystalline ZnO nanorods as branch shells. Optoelectronic tests on the 3C-SiC/ZnO heterostructure photodetector verify the outstanding photo-detection performance with an ultrahigh EQE (1.69 × 10⁸%), a superior photoresponsivity (4.8 × 10⁵ A W^-1), a very fast response time (a rise time of 40 ms and a decay time of 60 ms), a high photo-dark current ratio of 187.8 and an excellent photocurrent stability and reproducibility, which is significantly advantageous or comparable to those of ZnO and other inorganic semiconductor nanostructure based photodetectors. To understand the excellent photodetection of hierarchical 3C-SiC/ZnO heterostructures, a band-gap energy diagram describing the photogenerated electron transport process is plotted and the corresponding mechanism is discussed. The strategy proposed in the present work will open up more opportunities for the design and boost of ultra-sensitive photodetectors based on semiconductor heterostructures.