Improving ZnO ultraviolet Schottky photodetectors by inserting a MoS2 layer

ZnO Schottky junction photodetectors (PDs) has become a research focus due to their wide application, high-performance and low-cost. However, their development has been limited by the low photo-response. Two-dimensional MoS2 exhibit numerous advantages, including a tunable band gap, a strong exciton effect, and broadband absorption. In this work, we incorporate MoS2 into ZnO thin films using a simple spin-coating method to create Schottky ultraviolet (UV) PDs that show a remarkably increased responsivity (by 885 %) and a substantially improved photo-current (by one order of magnitude). Furthermore, they exhibit a relatively low noise equivalent power (5.11 × 10−13 W) and a high normalized detectivity 2.96 × 1011 Jones. This outstanding performance can be attributed to the enhanced absorption and efficient charge transfer of ZnO film after introduction of MoS2 layer. In this study, an easy method is presented for creating high-performance ZnO Schottky PDs.