Synthesis of Polyaniline–Cerium Oxide Nanocomposite for Photodetector Application

In this paper nanocomposites materials of Polyaniline (PAni) nano-fiber (NFs) and Cerium oxide (CeO2) nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared by two method; hydrothermal and chemical method respectively. The spin coating method was used to prepare PAni and Pani/CeO2 on Si and glass substrates and then screened with XRD, FE-SEM, UV-Vis and as-prepared thin-film photodetectors. The X-ray diffraction pattern of all the prepared films showed the presence of crystalline nature. It was found that the PAni/CeO2 films have a cubic crystal structure.. FESEM results proved that the PAni film prepared have nanofiber like structure, while the PAni/CeO2 films proved that CeO2 NPs fully caped with PAni nanofiber. The UV-Vis spectra showed peaks of PAni 340nm, 651nm and PAni/CeO2 320nm, 620 nm and in the energy gap it is noticed that the band gap value decreases as the CeO2 ratios increases where the maximum values of energy gap of B-band and Q-band (1.65 – 2.74) eV. The maximum sensitivity values of the photoconductive detectors were observed at PAni/CeO2 (2 vol.%) nanoparticles deposited on n-Si substrate which were approximately (2696.5%, 946.15%, 1402.2%, 1613.9%3837.9%, and 2700%) for wavelengths 360, 465, 510, 595,660 and 965 nm respectively.

Far Infrared Laser Detector Based on Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes and Blend of (Polyaniline - Polymethyl Methacrylate) Polymers with Methyl Blue Dye for Photoconductive Applications

Infrared photoconductive detectors working in the far-infrared region and room temperature were fabricated. The detectors were fabricated using three types of carbon nanotubes (CNTs); MWCNTs, COOH-MWCNTs, and short-MWCNTs. The carbon nontubes suspension is deposited by dip coating and drop–casting techniques to prepare thin films of CNTs. These films were deposited on porous silicon (PSi) substrates of n-type Si. The I-V characteristics and the figures of merit of the fabricated detectors were measured at a forward bias voltage of 3 and 5 volts as well as at dark and under illumination by IR radiation from a CO2 laser of 10.6 μm wavelengths and power of 2.2 W. The responsivity and figures of merit of the photoconductive detector are improved by coating the MWCNTs films with a thin layer of a blend (polyaniline - polymethyl methacrylate) polymer with methylene blue dye. The coated MWCNTs films showed better performances, so this type of coating can be considered as a surface treatment of the detector film, which highly increased the responsivity and specific detectivity of the fabricated IR laser detector-based MWCNTs. The photocurrent response for the coated films was increased about 25 times than that for uncoated films. The results proved the role of the polymer in the enhancement of the performance of the IR photoconductive detectors. Keywords: Carbon nanotubes, Infrared detector, Polyaniline polymer, Polymethyl methacrylate polymer, Methyl Blue dye.

Terahertz detection with an antenna-coupled highly-doped silicon quantum dot

Nanostructured dopant-based silicon (Si) transistors are promising candidates for high-performance photodetectors and quantum information devices. For highly doped Si with donor bands, the energy depth of donor levels and the energy required for tunneling processes between donor levels are typically on the order of millielectron volts, corresponding to terahertz (THz) photon energy. Owing to these properties, highly doped Si quantum dots (QDs) are highly attractive as THz photoconductive detectors. Here, we demonstrate THz detection with a lithographically defined and highly phosphorus-doped Si QD. We integrate a 40 nm-diameter QD with a micrometer-scale broadband logarithmic spiral antenna for the detection of THz photocurrent in a wide frequency range from 0.58 to 3.11 THz. Furthermore, we confirm that the detection sensitivity is enhanced by a factor of ~880 compared to a QD detector without an antenna. These results demonstrate the ability of a highly doped-Si QD coupled with an antenna to detect broadband THz waves. By optimizing the dopant distribution and levels, further performance improvements are feasible.