The highly crystalline tellurium doped ZnO nanowires photodetector

•The highly crystalline tellurium doped ZnO nanowires photodetector is fabricated.•The PL studies of these nanowires showed a strong emission peak in the green region.•The photoconducting measurement was performed under field effect transistor principles.•Photodetector showed the dynamic response of an on/off current ratio of around 102.•Carrier concentrations change in fixed VG increased by 1.27 × 1018 cm−3 in 500 nm light. In this paper, the stable and reproducible tellurium doped ZnO nanowires (Te-ZnO NWs) photodetector with intensive responsively is presented. The Te-ZnO NWs were fabricated by physical vapor deposition (PVD) growth mechanism. Field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) images showed that the fabricated nanowires were 50 nm in diameter and several microns in length. The high resolution transmission electron microscopy indicated that the synthesized nanowires were crystalline and their phase characterization was validated by the X-ray diffraction (XRD). The photoluminescence (PL) studies of these nanowires showed a strong photoluminescence (PL) emission peak in the green region. It was verified that the optical band gap of the NWs films increased as the Te concentration increased. The photo-conducting measurements were performed under field effect transistor principles. The tellurium doped ZnO nanowires photodetector showed the dynamic response of an on/off current contrast ratio of around 102. The carrier concentrations change in the fixed gate voltage was increased by 1.27 × 1018 cm−3 after 500 nm wavelength light illumination. The photocurrent studies of the samples showed that tellurium doped ZnO nanowires were the suitable photodetector.