Interband transition in plasmonic titanium nitride and its contribution towards ZnO based pyro-phototronic application

Interband transition generated charge carriers in plasmonic TiN have been utilized for optoelectronic device application by fabricating a highly responsive ultrafast pyro-phototronic self-powered UV photodetector. The excitonic-pyroelectric effect of the non-centrosymmetric wurtzite ZnO crystal combined with the interband transition effect of TiN helps in achieving high performance and ultrafast response of the fabricated photodetector. The maximum photoresponsivity of the device is calculated to be 50 mA/W in self-powered condition, which is one of the best values reported in case of ZnO based self-powered UV photodetectors. Apart from this high response, the device also registers an ultrafast response time of 21 mu s which is attributed to the inherent pyroelectric effect of the ZnO crystal. Finite difference time domain simulation also reveals the contribution of interband transition in the device operation. This study thus provides an insight about the unexplored area of interband transition in plasmonic materials and its efficient use in combination with excitonic-pyroelectric effect of the base semiconductor.

Automated summary

The study utilizes interband transition generated charge carriers in plasmonic TiN to fabricate a highly responsive UV photodetector, combining with the excitonic-pyroelectric effect of the non-centrosymmetric wurtzite ZnO crystal. The device demonstrates a maximum photoresponsivity of 50 mA/W and an ultrafast response time of 21 μs.