The Highly Uniform Photoresponsivity from Visible to Near IR Light in Sb₂Te₃ Flakes

Broadband photosensors have been widely studied in various kinds of materials. Experimental results have revealed strong wavelength-dependent photoresponses in all previous reports. This limits the potential application of broadband photosensors. Therefore, finding a wavelength-insensitive photosensor is imperative in this application. Photocurrent measurements were performed in Sb₂Te₃ flakes at various wavelengths ranging from visible to near IR light. The measured photocurrent change was insensitive to wavelengths from 300 to 1000 nm. The observed wavelength response deviation was lower than that in all previous reports. Our results show that the corresponding energies of these photocurrent peaks are consistent with the energy difference of the density of state peaks between conduction and valence bands. This suggests that the observed photocurrent originates from these band structure peak transitions under light illumination. Contrary to the most common explanation that observed broadband photocurrent carrier is mainly from the surface state in low-dimensional materials, our experimental result suggests that bulk state band structure is the main source of the observed photocurrent and dominates the broadband photocurrent.