Self-powered silicon carbide ultraviolet photodetector via gold nanoparticle plasmons for sustainable optoelectronic applications

In recent years, it is becoming inevitable to design/construct eco-friendly sustainable electronic and photonic devices to minimize the footprints of these as part of the fight against global problems like resource depletion and pollution. To this end, scientists have been researching to produce sustainable, self-powered electronic and photonic devices capable of meeting the standards of consumers along with minimal adverse effects on the environment. In this study, we fabricated and analyzed a high-performance self-powered silicon carbide ultraviolet photodetector (SiC-UVPD) through functionalizing with gold nanoparticles (Au NPs). The effect of Au NPs on the improvement of the photodetector was systematically investigated. The self-powered SiC-UVPD exhibited a very good responsitivity of 0.30 A W −1 and a detectivity of 7.0 × 10 11 cm.Hz 1/2 .W −1 under 254 nm wavelength UV light irradiation without any external power. The photodetector also provided quick responses to incident UV light with 28 ms rise time and 88 ms fall time. To sum up, the performance of the fabricated self-powered SiC-UVPD shows that SiC-UVPDs can offer new solutions for high performance emerging sustainable energy and eco-friendly optoelectronic devices.