Long-Term Stable Near-Infrared–Short-Wave-Infrared Photodetector Driven by the Photothermal Effect of Polypyrrole Nanostructures

• Published in: ACS applied materials & interfaces Vol. 13; no. 38; pp. 45957 - 45965
• Main Authors: Xiang, Hengyang, Xin, Chenghao, Hu, Zhelu, Aigouy, Lionel, Chen, Zhuoying, Yuan, Xiaojiao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Chemical Society 29.09.2021; Washington, D.C. : American Chemical Society
• Subjects: Applications of Polymer, Composite, and Coating Materials; Chemical Sciences; Engineering Sciences; Material chemistry; Materials; Micro and nanotechnologies; Microelectronics; Optics; Photonic; Polymers; long-term stability; polypyrrole nanostructures; solution process; broadband photodetection; photothermal effect; solution-process
• ISSN: 1944-8244; 1944-8252
• DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c11674

Polypyrrole (PPy) is a conductive polymer and widely applied in different applications owing to its broadband absorption in the UV–visible, near-infrared (NIR), and short-wave-infrared (SWIR) spectrum, excellent conductivity, and strong photothermal effect. In this work, we explored for the first time the photothermal effect of PPy nanoparticles (PPy-NPs) in a photothermal-induced detector structure and developed a new type of air-stable hybrid PPy-NPs/Pt photodetector (PD) with NIR/SWIR sensitivity. By combining PPy-NPs with a platinum (Pt)-resistive pattern, we fabricated PPy-NPs/Pt PDs that are sensitive to illumination in the wavelength range from 800 to 2000 nm. Under the illumination of λ = 1.5 μm, the maximum photoresponsivity was measured to be ∼1.3 A/W with a 131 μs photoresponse rise time. Owing to the excellent material stability from both PPy-NPs and the Pt pattern, the current photodetectors show long-term stable photoresponsivity when they were stored in air without encapsulation. The results suggest that the PPy-NPs/Pt hybrid PDs are promising candidates for a new type of low-cost and broadband due to their multiple advantages such as free of toxic heavy metals, air stability, and solution processing.