Hydrothermally-Grown TiO2 Thin Film-Based Metal-Semiconductor-Metal UV Photodetector

A metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) ultraviolet photodetector has been fabricated by using hydrothermally-grown TiO2 thin films. Ag paint was used as a contact electrode which showed the good ohmic contact between the metal-semiconductor junctions. The effect of deposition time on the structural, morphological and photodetector properties have been studied. The prepared TiO2 thin films are polycrystalline and show a rutile crystal structure with the preferred orientation along the (110) plane. The MSM UV photodetector was illuminated under a UV lamp with an intensity of 1.8 mu W/cm(2) and at 5-V bias. The photocurrent of the device increased linearly with the applied voltage. The maximum photocurrent of 3.96 mu A was obtained for the film deposited at 5 h and maximum spectral photoresponsivity was 13.29 A/W. The device showed a fast optical switching behavior. The high responsivity and fast photoresponse shows that fabricated TiO2 detectors are good candidates for ultraviolet photodetectors.