Band offset and an ultra-fast response UV-VIS
photodetector in g-In
2
Se
3
/p-Si heterojunction
heterostructures
Y. X. Fang,
a
H. Zhang,
a
F. Azad,
b
S. P. Wang,
c
F. C. C. Ling
d
and S. C. Su
*
ad
High-quality g-In
2
Se
3
thin films and a g-In
2
Se
3
/p-Si heterojunction were prepared using pulse laser
deposition (PLD). The band offset of this heterojunction was studied by XPS and the band structure was
found to be type II structure. The valence band offset (DE
v
) and the conduction band offset (DE
c
) of the
heterojunction were determined to be 1.2 0.1 eV and 0.27 0.1 eV, respectively. The g-In
2
Se
3
/p-Si
heterojunction photodetector has high responsivity under UV to visible light illumination. The
heterojunction exhibits highly stable photodetection characteristics with an ultrafast response/recovery
time of 15/366 ms. The ultrafast response time was attributed to type II structure band alignment, which
was good for the separation of electron–hole pairs and it can quickly reduce recombination. These
excellent properties make g-In
2
Se
3
/p-Si heterojunctions a promising candidate for photodetector
applications.
1 Introduction
Two-dimensional layered semiconductors exhibit unique
physical and chemical properties compared to their bulk
counterparts. They have great application prospects in the eld
of nano-optoelectronic devices and have attracted widespread
attention.
1–4
However, stable high-performance of these two-
dimensional layered semiconductor materials based devices
has yet to be further explored. In the past decade, layered
materials such as metal dichalcogenides (MoS
2
,
5–7
MoSe
2
,
8–10
WSe
2
,
11–13
WS
2
(ref. 14–17)), III–VI semiconductors (GaSe,
18,19
GaS,
20,21
InSe,
22,23
In
2
Se
3
(ref. 24 and 25)), V–VI semiconductors
(Bi
2
Te
3
(ref. 26 and 27)) and elemental semiconductors (black
phosphorus
28
) have found useful applications in nano-
electronics and optoelectronics. Of the various chalcogenides,
In
2
Se
3
is an interesting III–VI n-type semiconductor due to its
multiphase and excellent optical properties. It is also known to
have at least ve crystal forms (a, b, g, d and k). At different
temperatures with a specic stoichiometric ratio, different
phases and crystal structures can coexist in case of In
2
Se
3
.
24,29,30
Generally, In
2
Se
3
is a direct narrow bandgap semiconductor.
Multilayered (ML) indium selenide exhibits high electron
mobility, remarkable light absorption efficiency and sensitivity,
and good stability which makes it one of the most promising
materials for photodetection purposes. Because silicon is
a general-purpose substrate for photovoltaic applications,
combining In
2
Se
3
with mature silicon technology has great
potential for the preparation of photoelectric sensors with high
detection performance. Current photodetection technology
targets multi-spectral (wideband or dual-band) photodetectors
for sensing, imaging under atmospheric conditions, object
discrimination and optical communication applications.
31
Up to now, various synthetic approaches have been used to
prepare different In
2
Se
3
heterostructures. Zhang et al. prepared
the In
2
Se
3
/ZnO heterojunction and studied its offset structure.
32
Chen et al. developed an effective colloidal process involving
thermal injection to synthesize uniform nanoowers consisting
of 2D g-In
2
Se
3
nanosheets.
33
Zheng et al. prepared a self-
assembled broadband b-In
2
Se
3
/Si photodetector array for weak
signal detection.
34
Yang et al. Prepared the In
2
Se
3
/Pi nanosheets
and studied its photoresponsivity.
35
g-In
2
Se
3
/Si has emerged as
one of the most promising materials for visible photodetection
due to its remarkable responsivity and detectivity in a wide range
of wavelengths. In this work, a high-quality n type g-In
2
Se
3
thin
lm was successfully prepared by pulsed laser deposition (PLD).
And we studied the valence band offset (DE
v
) and the conduction
band offset (DE
c
) of the heterojunction.
The g-In
2
Se
3
/p-Si heterojunction was prepared by depositing
In
2
Se
3
on p-Si substrate. The band offset of this heterojunction
was studied by XPS. The g-In
2
Se
3
/p-Si heterojunction exhibits
signicant responsivity and detectability over a wide range of
wavelength. This heterojunction photodiode exhibits excellent
response characteristics as an optoelectronic device.
a
Institute of Optoelectronic Material and Technology, South China Normal University,
Guangzhou 510631, P. R. China. E-mail: shichensu@scnu.edu.cn
b
School of Natural Sciences (SNS), National University of Sciences and Technology
(NUST), H-12 Islamabad, Pakistan
c
Institute of Applied Physics and Materials Engineering, University of Macau, Macau
999078, China
d
Department of Physics, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong,
People's Republic of China
Cite this: RSC Adv.,2018,8,29555
Received 3rd July 2018
Accepted 13th August 2018
DOI: 10.1039/c8ra05677c
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