Ultra-High-Responsivity Broadband Detection of Si Metal-Semiconductor-Metal Schottky Photodetectors Improved by ZnO Nanorod Arrays

This study describes a strategy for developing ultra-high-responsivity broadband Si-based photodetectors (PDs) using ZnO nanorod arrays (NRAs). The ZnO NRAs grown by a low-temperature hydrothermal method with large growth area and high growth rate absorb the photons effectively in the UV region and provide refractive index matching between Si and air for the long-wavelength region, leading to 3 and 2 orders of magnitude increase in the responsivity of Si metal-semiconductor-metal PDs in the UV and visible/NIR regions, respectively. Significantly enhanced performances agree with the theoretical analysis based on the finite-difference time-domain method. These results clearly demonstrate that Si PDs combined with ZnO NRAs hold high potential in next-generation broadband PDs.