Interfacial state induced ultrasensitive ultraviolet light photodetector with resolved flux down to 85 photons per second

We present an ultrasensitive ultraviolet （UV） detector based on a p-type ZnS nanoribbon （NR）/indium tin oxide （ITO） Schottky barrier diode （SBD）. The device exhibits a pseudo-photovoltaic behavior which can allow the SBD to detect UV light irradiation with incident power of 6 × 10^-17 W （-85 photons/s on the NR） at room temperature, with excellent reproducibility and stability. The corresponding detectivity and photoconductive gain are calculated to be 3.1 × 10^20 cm.Hz1/2.W^-1 and 6.6 × 10^5, respectively. It is found that the presence of the trapping states at the p-ZnS NWITO interface plays a crucial role in determining the ultrahigh sensitivity of this nanoSBDs. Based on our theoretical calculation, even ultra-low photon fluxes on the order of several tens of photons could induce a significant change in interface potential and consequently cause a large photocurrent variation. The present study provides new opportunities for developiphigh-performance optoelectronic devices in the future.