Nan Wei

Plasmonic enhancement of photocurrent in carbon nanotube by Au nanoparticles

We demonstrate a strong photocurrent enhancement in carbon nanotube (CNT) photodetectors by coupling the CNT with a plasmonic nanostructure made of Au nanoparticles. Comparing with the device without coupling to Au nanoparticles, more than 3 times photocurrent enhancement is observed and attributed to the strong local field enhancement on the CNT. The plasmonic near-field coupling with CNTs with different diameters is also investigated and the results suggest that CNTs with larger diameter show stronger enhancement. This work demonstrates the potential to significantly improve the performance of CNT photoelectric devices using metallic nanoparticles that support surface plasmons.

Carbon nanotube light sensors with linear dynamic range of over 120 dB

We show that a carbon nanotube (CNT) diode fabricated by asymmetric contacts shows a linear photocurrent in response to illumination for over six decades or dynamic range of 120 dB; in particular, it shows no sign of degradation under illumination intensity of up to 100 kW/cm2. This CNT diode also exhibits a continued response for incident wavelength from 1165 nm to 2100 nm, promising potentials applications in robust and wide bandwidth light sensing.

Acoustic-assisted assembly of an individual monochromatic ultralong carbon nanotube for high on-current transistors

Consistent-chirality carbon nanotube tangles with high on-currents in transistors. Great effort has been applied to scientific research on the controllable synthesis of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with high semiconducting selectivity or high areal density toward the macroscale applications of high-performance carbon-based electronics. However, the key issue of compatibility between these two requirements for CNTs remains a challenge, blocking the expected performance boost of CNT devices. We report an in situ acoustic-assisted assembly of high-density monochromatic CNT tangles (m-CNT-Ts), consisting of one self-entangled CNT with a length of up to 100 mm and consistent chirality. On the basis of a minimum consumed energy model with a Strouhal number of approximately 0.3, the scale could be controlled within the range of 1 × 104 to 3 × 104 μm2 or even a larger range. Transistors fabricated with one m-CNT-T showed an on/off ratio of 103 to 106 with 4-mA on-state current, which is also the highest on-state current recorded so far for single CNT–based transistors. This acoustic-assisted assembly of chiral-consistent m-CNT-Ts will provide new opportunities for the fabrication of high-performance electronics based on perfect CNTs with high purity and high density.

High Conversion Efficiency Carbon Nanotube-Based Barrier-Free Bipolar-Diode Photodetector

Conversion efficiency (CE) is the most important figure of merit for photodetectors. For carbon nanotubes (CNT) based photodetectors, the CE is mainly determined by excitons dissociation and transport of free carriers toward contacts. While phonon-assisted exciton dissociation mechanism is effective in split-gate CNT p-n diodes, the CE is typically low in these devices, approximately 1-5%. Here, we evaluate the performance of a barrier-free bipolar diode (BFBD), which is basically a semiconducting CNT asymmetrically contacted by perfect n-type ohmic contact (Sc) and p-type ohmic contact (Pd) at the two ends of the diode. We show that the CE in short channel BFBD devices (e.g., 60 nm) is over 60%, and it reduces rapidly with increasing channel length. We find that the electric-field-assisted mechanism dominates the dissociation rate of excitons in BFBD devices at zero bias and thus the photocurrent generation process. By performing a time-resolved and spatial-resolved Monte Carlo simulation, we find that there exists an effective electron (hole)-rich region near the n-type (p-type) electrode in the asymmetrically contacted BFBD device, where the electric-field strength is larger than 17 V/μm and exciton dissociation is extremely fast (<0.1 ps), leading to very high CE in the BFBD devices.

Asymmetric Light Excitation for Photodetectors Based on Nanoscale Semiconductors

A photodetector is a key device to extend the cognition fields of mankind and to enrich information transfer. With the advent of emerging nanomaterials and nanophotonic techniques, new explorations and designs for photodetection have been constantly put forward. Here, we report the asymmetric-light-excitation photoelectric detectors with symmetric electrical contacts working at zero external bias. Unlike conventional photodetectors with symmetric contacts which are usually used as photoconductors or phototransistors showing no photocurrent at zero bias, in this device, the asymmetric-light-excitation structure is designed to ensure that only one Schottky junction between two metallic electrodes and semiconductors is illuminated. In this condition, a device can contribute to a photocurrent without bias. Furthermore, incident light with global illumination will be redistributed by the top Au patterns on devices. The achievement of detectors benefits from the designed redistribution of optical field on specific Schottky barriers within optically active regions and effective carrier collection, producing unidirectional photocurrent for large-scale detection applications. The response mechanisms, including excitations under different polarizations, wavebands, and tilted incidences, were systematically elaborated. Device performances including photocurrent, dynamic response, and detectivity were also carefully measured, demonstrating the possibility for applications in high-speed imaging sensors or integrated optoelectronic systems. The concept of asymmetric-light-excitation photodetectors shows wider availability to other nanomaterials for modern optoelectronics.

Contact-dominated transport in carbon nanotube thin films: toward large-scale fabrication of high performance photovoltaic devices

Semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (s-SWCNTs) have been widely regarded as potential channel materials for not only replacing silicon to extend Moores law but also for building high performance optoelectronic devices. To realize these goals, high quality s-SWCNTs and contacts are needed to outperform devices based on traditional materials such as silicon. For a high quality conducting or active channel, the ideal CNTs consist of a pure s-SWCNTs array with a confined pitch of less than 10 nm via e.g., chemical vapor deposition (CVD) methods, although this has not been realized experimentally. On the other hand, significant progress has been made on solution-processed CNTs. However, only network and low performance optoelectronic devices have been realized. In this study, we systematically studied the performance of devices using solution-processed CNT films with different s-SWCNT purity, with particular emphasis being placed on disentangling those metallic-CNTs (m-CNTs)-dominated low performance and contacts-dominated high performance devices. We demonstrated that using high purity s-SWCNTs allowed for the construction of high performance diodes via a doping-free method. These diodes behave similarly to those based on individual CVD-grown s-CNTs, resulting in 250 mV photovoltage for a typical single diode and more than 4.35 V for cascading cells using the virtual contact technique and thus paving the way for large scale fabrication of higher performance photovoltaic devices using readily available solution processed CNTs.

Nanoscale color sensors made on semiconducting multi-wall carbon nanotubes

Sub-micron color sensors are developed, using carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The color sensor consists of an array of two photodiodes with different spectral responses, fabricated using controlled electric peeling-off and doping-free techniques on a single semiconducting double-wall CNT. The CNT photodiodes exhibit intrinsic broad spectral responses from 640 to 2,100 nm, large linear dynamic ranges of over 60 dB, and sub-micron pixel size. This method explores the unique properties of multi-wall CNTs, and may be readily used for large-scale fabrication of high performance color sensor arrays, when arrays of parallel multi-wall CNTs become available.