Water Heterostructure Photodetector for Calculation of Semiconductor Minority Carrier Lifetime

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel water-based heterostructure photodetector that enables accurate, nondestructive measurement of semiconductor minority carrier lifetime using dynamic water polarization effects.

Contribution

It presents a new off-junction graphene/water/silicon photodetector that simplifies carrier lifetime measurement without damaging samples, advancing nondestructive testing methods.

Findings

Achieved responsivity of 36.55 mA/W and detectivity of 1.62×10^12 Jones.

Measured silicon minority carrier lifetime with up to 98.8% accuracy.

Demonstrated a straightforward, nondestructive testing approach for semiconductors.

Abstract

The minority carrier lifetime of semiconductor materials is a crucial performance parameter for optoelectronic devices. However, the existing minority carrier lifetime measurement techniques necessitate delicate optical measurement systems and harmful treatment of the samples, which will definitely cause great constraints on the further development of the semiconductor industry. Here, an off-junction graphene/water/silicon photodetector is realized based on the charming dynamic polarization process of water molecules at the water/silicon and water/graphene interface, which shows a typical responsivity and detectivity of 36.55 mA W-1 and 1.62*1012 Jones respectively under 890 nm illumination with a distance of 0.2 cm away from the junction. This pulse-like photo-response arises from the diffusion and drift current toward the water/silicon interface generated by the illumination on an off-junction spot. Furthermore, by measuring the photo-current at a different distance from the junction combined with an exponential fitting method, the minority carrier lifetime calculation of silicon can be performed with the maximum accuracy rate reaches 98.8%, where water plays the key role of deducing the carrier lifetime. This study provides a straightforward method that paves the way for future minority carrier lifetime tests of semiconductor materials, which hold great potential for developing the nondestructive tests(NDT) in semiconductor industry.