High-performance infrared photodetector based on single-wall carbon nanotube films

Bolometric photodetectors based on single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) have shown advantages of an ul-trawide absorption spectrum, high charge carrier mobility, good processability, and high mechanical flexibility. However, their detection performance needs to be improved to meet the requirements of real applications. A flexible infrared photodetector was fabricated based on high quality SWCNT films. The device showed an ul-trahigh detectivity up to 1.35 x 108 Jones under a bias voltage of 0.2 V, and a short response time of 70 ms in air. In addition, we found that the photocurrent response of the detector was closely related to the structure of the SWCNT network. A negative photocurrent was measured using photodetectors constructed from highly-crystalline SWCNTs owing to dominant phonon scattering transfer, while a positive photocurrent was detected from those fabricated using defect-rich SWCNTs due to dominant electron hopping transfer. Our results shed light on the construction of high-performance SWCNT film-based infrared photodetectors.

Automated summary

Bolometric photodetectors based on single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) have advantages of ul-trawide absorption spectrum, high charge carrier mobility, good processability, and high mechanical flexibility. However, their detection performance needs improvement. We fabricated a flexible infrared photodetector based on high quality SWCNT films. The device exhibited an ul-trahigh detectivity and a short response time. The photocurrent response of the detector was influenced by the structure of the SWCNT network.