Broadband and ultrafast photodetector based on PtSe2 synthesized on hBN using molecular beam epitaxy

Two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals materials are potential candidates for high-performance optoelectrical devices owing to the bandgap modulation, high on/off ratio, and ultra-stability. However, the challenge of synthesizing large-area, uniform, and high-quality 2D van der Waals materials should be addressed to manufacture large-scale and uniform optoelectrical devices using these materials. Although several previous studies investigated synthesis methods using chemical vapor deposition and molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), there are certain limitations such as the non-uniformity, lots of grain boundaries, and low carrier mobility. Here, by studying a method for synthesizing PtSe2 on hBN buffer layer using MBE, we fabricated a PtSe2-based broadband photodetector. The high-quality PtSe2 synthesized on hBN was evaluated using Raman spectroscopy and scanning transmission electron spectroscopy. These revealed that the synthesized PtSe2 had a high quality and small grain boundary compared with PtSe2 synthesized on SiO2. Owing to the reduction in the carrier scattering and carrier recombination because of the high-quality and small grain boundaries, the photodetector using PtSe2 synthesized on hBN displayed optoelectrical properties that were significantly better than those of PtSe2 synthesized on SiO2. Therefore, using hBN as a buffer layer for PtSe2 growth, a remarkable performance of complex optoelectrical devices could be achieved.