High-Performance Photo-Modulated Thin-Film Transistor Based on Quantum dots/Reduced Graphene Oxide Fragment-Decorated ZnO Nanowires

Nanomicro Lett. 2016;8(3):247-253. doi: 10.1007/s40820-016-0083-7. Epub 2016 Mar 5.

Abstract

In this paper, a photo-modulated transistor based on the thin-film transistor structure was fabricated on the flexible substrate by spin-coating and magnetron sputtering. A novel hybrid material that composed of CdSe quantum dots and reduced graphene oxide (RGO) fragment-decorated ZnO nanowires was synthesized to overcome the narrow optical sensitive waveband and enhance the photo-responsivity. Due to the enrichment of the interface and heterostructure by RGO fragments being utilized, the photo-responsivity of the transistor was improved to 2000 A W-1 and the photo-sensitive wavelength was extended from ultraviolet to visible. In addition, a positive back-gate voltage was employed to reduce the Schottky barrier width of RGO fragments and ZnO nanowires. As a result, the amount of carriers was increased by 10 folds via the modulation of back-gate voltage. With these inherent properties, such as integrated circuit capability and wide optical sensitive waveband, the transistor will manifest great potential in the future applications in photodetectors.

Keywords: Quantum dots; Reduced graphene oxide; Thin-film transistor; ZnO nanowires.