Passivation of surface states in the ZnO nanowire with thermally evaporated copper phthalocyanine for hybrid photodetectors
Chen Q., Ding H., Wu Y., Sui M., Lu W., Wang B., Su W., Cui Z., Chen L.
The adsorption of O<inf>2</inf>/H<inf>2</inf>O molecules on the ZnO nanowire (NW) surface results in the long lifetime of photo-generated carriers and thus benefits ZnO NW-based ultraviolet photodetectors by suppressing the dark current and improving the photocurrent gain, but the slow adsorption process also leads to slow detector response time. Here we show that a thermally evaporated copper phthalocyanine film is effective in passivating surface trap states of ZnO NWs. As a result, the organic/inorganic hybrid photodetector devices exhibit simultaneously improved photosensitivity and response time. This work suggests that it could be an effective way in interfacial passivation using organic/inorganic hybrid structures. © 2013 The Royal Society of Chemistry.