Boosting the UV photo-detecting properties of V2O5 thin films by doping In3+ doping

Abstract

In recent years, optoelectronic technology has demanded the development of efficient photodetectors by layered semiconductor materials at affordable prices. Herein, we put the efforts to generate V2O5 thin films on the surface of glass slides with diverse insertion of In content (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 wt%) via cost effective nebulizer spray pyrolysis technique and examined their application in U.V. photosensing. Standard characterization techniques are used for these films to identify the cause of In dopant on its morphological, structural, and opto-electrical properties. X-ray diffraction (XRD) plots confirm the development of single-phase orthorhombic structure grown along [010] direction, without the appearance of foreign phases. Further, the dopant ingredient (In) hikes the crystallinity and crystallite sizes (36–51 nm) up to a certain threshold level (2 wt%) and decreases it for further growing In doping. The Field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) images display homogeneous nanorods morphology formation at all doping levels. Doping improved its photon absorption in the U.V. region, and the bandgap obtained from the absorbance spectra tuned to a lower value of 1.98 eV up to 2 wt%. All the created thin films emit intense emission bands at 475 nm and 640 nm. Characterization involving I-V measurements under 365 nm illumination at 5 V bias exhibiting commendable performance in terms of photodetector metrics (Responsivity (R) = 7.96 × 10−1 AW−1, Detectivity (D*)=3.63 × 1011 Jones and External quantum efficiency (EQE) = 186 %) for 2 % In doped V2O5. The same sample exhibits a fast-rising /falling time up to 0.6s /0.7 s, respectively. Our results may widen the field of applications in high-performance U.V. photodetector.