Enhanced light sensing performance of a hybrid device developed using as-grown vertically aligned multiwalled carbon nanotubes on TCO substrates

We report a suite of versatile plasma based methods for direct growth of vertically aligned multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and MWCNT based hybrid composites on transparent conducting oxide (TCO) substrates. By using a pulsed dc PECVD technique, short length vertically aligned MWCNTs are grown at 450 °C. The MWCNTs are uniformly distributed on TCO substrates with an average diameter and length of 49 ± 9 nm and 208 ± 26 nm, respectively. The area density of the vertically grown MWCNTs is as high as 7 × 10 9 cm −2 . The growth parameters are carefully refined to balance the tube dimension and density. Efforts have been made to synthesize MWCNTs based hybrid composites. The synthesized composites are discussed in terms of structural, morphological and optical properties. The as-fabricated MWCNT based hybrid composite is then utilized to show its applicability in a self-powered hybrid photodetector. Interestingly, the photodetector shows an enhanced photoresponse at a very low incident power density of ∼5.5 μW cm −2 . Utilization of a completely dry route for the synthesis and fabrication of MWCNT based hybrid composites emerge as a successful strategy suitable for hybrid nanocomposite material based advanced devices.