Rewritable nanoscale oxide photodetector

Nanophotonic devices are designed to generate, guide or detect light using structures with nanoscale dimensions that are closely tied to their functionality(1-4). However, the integration of photonic nanostructures with electronic circuitry(5) remains one of the most challenging aspects of device development. Here we report the development of rewritable nanoscale photodetectors created at the interface between LaAlO(3) and SrTiO(3). Nanowire junctions with characteristic dimensions of 2-3 nm are created using a reversible conductive atomic force microscope writing technique(6,7). These nanoscale devices exhibit remarkably high gain for their size, in part because of the large electric fields produced in the gap region. The photoconductive response is electric field-tunable and spans the visibleto-near-infrared regime. The ability to integrate rewritable nanoscale photodetectors with nanowires and transistors in a single material platform foreshadows new families of integrated optoelectronic devices and applications.