Single CdS nanowire photodetector fabricated by FIB

[Display omitted] •Single crystal CdS nanowire was synthesized by Vapor–Liquid–Solid method.•We fabricated single CdS nanowire photodetector by FIB.•The Pt–CdS nanowire schottky barrier can be tuned by the Ga ion doping dose.•Ga ion irradiation on the device affected the photoresponse performance greatly. In this paper, a photodetector based on single cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanowire was fabricated using focused ion beam (FIB) technique. The nanowire manipulation, transferring and electrode fabrication process by the FIB and its influence on the photodetector performance were studied. CdS nanowire was synthesized by Vapor–Phase–Transport (VPT) method. CdS powder was thermally evaporated at 950°C in the Argon (Ar) gas as the source material. High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope (HRTEM) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) experiment results showed that the nanowire presented wurtzite CdS structure and good crystal quality. The photoresponse time and recovery time of the photodetector were 150ms and 53ms, respectively. The photosensitivity was 2.83, and the low sensitivity was caused by the deposition of Ga on the surface of the nanowire and electrode gap during the FIB fabricating process.