Single-Walled ZnSe Nanotubes for High-Performance Photodetectors: A Computational Prediction

Low-dimensional nanomaterials show great potential for developing semiconducting materials due to their distinct electronic, optical, and mechanical properties. In this study, we constructed various one-dimensional ZnSe nanotubes and investigated their transport and photoresponse properties by using the density functional theory (DFT) and non-equilibrium Green's function (NEGF) method. Under bias regulation, one-dimensional tetragonal ZnSe nanotube curled along the diagonal can reach a current of 111.3 μA at a bias of 4.0 eV. It is worth noting that for all considered photon energies, the photocurrent exhibits a cosine dependence on the polarization angle, which is consistent with the photogalvanic effect. The results show that our constructed ZnSe nanotubes have potential for applications in electronic and optoelectronic devices.