Interfacial Gated Graphene Photodetector with Broadband Response

A much stronger interfacial gating effect was observed in the graphene/HfO₂/Si photodetector when compared with that in the graphene/SiO₂/Si photodetector. We found that this improvement was due to the higher interface state density at the HfO₂/Si interface and the higher dielectric constant of the HfO₂ layer. The photoresponsivity of the graphene/HfO₂/Si photodetector is as high as 45.8 A W^-1. Germanium and amorphous MoS₂ (a-MoS₂) were used to prepare graphene/HfO₂/Ge and graphene/HfO₂/a-MoS₂ photodetectors, further demonstrating the high efficiency of the interfacial gating mechanism for photodetection. Because of the 0.196 eV bandgap of a-MoS₂, which was verified in our previous report, the graphene/HfO₂/a-MoS₂ photodetector realized ultrabroadband photodetection over the range from 473 nm (visible) to 2712 nm (mid-infrared) at room temperature with photoresponsivity as high as 5.36 A W^-1 and response time as fast as 68 μs, which represent significant improvements from the corresponding properties of the pure a-MoS₂ photodetectors in our previous report and are comparable with those of state-of-the-art broadband photodetectors. By taking full advantage of the interfacial gating mechanism, a fast response, high photoresponsivity and ultrabroadband photodetection were achieved simultaneously. These interfacial gated graphene photodetectors also offer simple fabrication and full semiconductor process compatibility. The advantages described here indicate that the proposed photodetectors have significant potential for use in electronic and optoelectronic applications and offer a new path toward the development of ultrabroadband photodetectors.