A self-driven, polarized-liquid-based ultraviolet photodetector

Traditionally, photodetectors are based on solid materials composed of P-N junctions, which require delicate growth technol-ogies. In this article, we demonstrate the feasibility of a polarized -liquid-triggered photodetector where the liquid is sandwiched between P-and N-type semiconductors. Under multiple cycles of optical switching, a transient photopolarized current, a steady-state photopolarized current, and a depolarized current are repeatably observed in a semiconductor/polar liquid/semiconductor structure. The responsivity and specific detectivity of the transient photopo-larized current in N-GaN/W/P-GaN reaches 104.2 mA/W and 4.4 3 10(12) Jones at 365 nm, 52.8 mA/W, and 1.9 3 10(12) Jones at 254 nm illumination under zero bias voltage. We anticipate that our research may be useful for integrating self-powered photodetectors with freely selectable wavelength bands.

Automated summary

In this study, a novel photodetector using polarized liquid to trigger current is demonstrated, which achieves repeatably photoelectric performance without requiring complex growth technologies. Under specific illumination conditions, the photodetector exhibits high responsivity and specific detectivity, which may have significant implications for self-powered photodetectors.