High-Performance and Stable Sb2S3 Thin-Film Photodetectors for Potential Application in Visible Light Communication

Jiawei Zhu; Lisu Yu; Zhenghai Wang; Xingjian Wang; Yingdong Ou; Mengqiang Cai; Zhixu Wu; Rongxin Tang; Yong Xia; Yuhao Wang; Hui Deng

doi:10.1021/acsami.3c03671

High-Performance and Stable Sb₂S₃ Thin-Film Photodetectors for Potential Application in Visible Light Communication

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2023 Jun 14;15(23):28175-28183. doi: 10.1021/acsami.3c03671. Epub 2023 Jun 5.

Authors

Jiawei Zhu¹, Lisu Yu¹, Zhenghai Wang¹, Xingjian Wang¹, Yingdong Ou², Mengqiang Cai³, Zhixu Wu³, Rongxin Tang³, Yong Xia¹, Yuhao Wang¹, Hui Deng⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Information Engineering, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330031, Jiangxi, China.
² School of Physics and Materials Science, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330031, Jiangxi, China.
³ Institute of Space Science and Technology, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330031, Jiangxi, China.
⁴ College of Physics and Information Engineering, Institute of Micro-Nano Devices and Solar Cells, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350108, Fujian, China.

PMID: 37276488
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.3c03671

Abstract

Photodetectors (PDs) are critical parts of visible light communication (VLC) systems for achieving efficient photoelectronic conversion and high-fidelity transmission of signals. Antimony sulfide (Sb₂S₃) as a nontoxic, high optical absorption coefficient, and low-cost semiconductor becomes a promising candidate for applications in VLC systems. Particularly, Sb₂S₃ PDs were verified to have significantly weak light detection ability in the visible region. However, the response speed of Sb₂S₃ PDs with existing device structures is still relatively slow. Herein, through optimizing the device structure for the p-i-n type PDs, a p-type Sb₂Se₃ hole transport layer (HTL) is designed to enhance the built-in electric field and to accelerate the migration of photogenerated carriers for the high responsivity and fast response speed. The optimal thickness of the structure is obtained through the simulation of SCAPS-1D software, and the optimized devices show high-performance parameters, including a responsivity of 0.34 A W^-1, a specific detectivity (D^*) of 2.20 × 10¹² Jones, the -3 dB bandwidth of 440 kHz, high stability, and the value of the Sb₂S₃ PDs can reach 60% in the range of 360-600 nm, which indicates that the device is very suitable for working in the visible light band. In addition, the resulting Sb₂S₃ PD is successfully integrated into VLC systems by designing a matched light detection circuit. The results suggest that the Sb₂S₃ PDs are expected to provide an alternative to future VLC system applications.

Keywords: Sb2S3; Sb2Se3; hole transport layers; receiver circuit; visible light communication.