Large area, low capacitance, GaAs nanowire photodetector with a transparent Schottky collecting junction

We present experimental results on a GaAs/Indium-Tin-Oxide Schottky-like heterojunction photodetector based on a nanowire device geometry. By distributing the active detecting area over an array of nanowires, it is possible to achieve large area detection with low capacitance. Devices with bare GaAs and passivated AlGaAs/GaAs nanowires are fabricated to compare the responsivity with and without surface passivation. We are able to achieve responsivity of > 0.5A/W and Signal-Noise-Ratio in excess of 7 dB for 2V applied reverse bias with passivated nanowire devices. Capacitance-voltage measurement yields < 5 nF/cm(2), which shows a strong possibility for high-speed applications with a broad area device. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.