Highly efficient, self-powered, and air-stable broadband photodetector based on SnSe thin film

Self-powered photodetectors attracted significant attention due to their ability to convert light signals into electrical signals without an external power source. Tin Selinide (SnSe) is a promising candidate for self-powered photodetector owing to its unique combination of high carrier mobility, narrow bandgap, and strong light absorption in the near-infrared region, which makes SnSe well-suited for many different devices and systems. However, the long-term stability of SnSe-based optoelectronic devices is not explored till now. Its unstable nature is an obstacle to commercialization purpose. This report used a thermally grown SnSe film to develop an airstable, self-powered, and broadband photodetector with excellent figure-of-merits. The two terminal SnSebased photodetector demonstrated an excellent performance like responsitivity (860 mAW-1 /260 mAW-1) and noise equivalent power (4.81 x 10- 12 WHz- 1/2 /1.56 x 10-11 WHz- 1/2) for the infrared /visible light illumination in the self-powered mode. In addition, under 0.8 V applied bias, the developed device displayed a peak responsivity of 5240 and 2140 mAW-1 under light illumination of 1064 and 532 nm, respectively. Inherent air-stable, low-cost-processing broadband and self-powered feature of SnSe-based optoelectronic device enable new avenues for the futuristic application.

Automated summary

SnSe is a promising material for self-powered photodetectors due to its high carrier mobility, narrow bandgap, and strong light absorption. However, the long-term stability of SnSe-based devices has not been studied. This report presents a thermally grown SnSe film that enables the development of an air-stable, self-powered, and broadband photodetector with excellent performance.