InGaAs/graphene infrared photodetectors with enhanced responsivity

Abstract

High responsivity is a vital aim of photodetectors research. Based on the photogating effect, ultra-high responsivity can be realized by combining the high mobility of graphene and strong light absorption of other materials. Due to long carrier lifetime and low mobility, quantum dots(QDs) are usually used to form hybrid photodetectors with graphene. However, hybrid photodetectors of graphene with materials possessing higher mobility are rarely studied at present. In this paper, the hybrid photodetector of graphene and InGaAs is studied. We fabricated and measured pure InGaAs photodetectors, hybrid photodetectors of the whole graphene on InGaAs surface and hybrid photodetectors of graphene nanoribbons(GNRs) on InGaAs surface. It is found that, compared to pure InGaAs photodetectors, the responsivity of the whole graphene on InGaAs surface devices increases by 14.7 times, which is 7.66 A W−1, and the response time is twice faster. We also found that the negative back voltage can increase the photocurrent by modulating the Fermi energy of graphene and barrier height of the hybrid photodetectors. The illuminated area effect on various devices area was discussed in this study. In terms of theoretical mechanization, as high mobility materials, both graphene and InGaAs could generate and transport carriers in this hybrid photodetector under optical illumination. The photoexcited holes in InGaAs enter graphene while the photoexcited electrons in graphene enter InGaAs due to the built-in field, which leads to a charge build-up on both sides of the junction and a strong photogating effect on the channel conductance. The results of this study are of novel significance for the development of infrared detectors based on graphene.