Fabrication of Au nanoparticle/double-walled carbon nanotube film/TiO2 nanotube array/Ti heterojunctions with low resistance state for broadband photodetectors

A broadband photodetector based on Au nanoparticle/double-walled carbon nanotube film/TiO2 nanotube array/Ti multilayer heterojunction structures has been fabricated. A pre-electroforming process at a voltage bias of 35 V was used to switch the photodetector from a high resistance state to a low resistance state. At a voltage bias of 1 V under 532-nm laser illumination in air, the photoresponsivity of the device reached 15.41 mA W-1, which is enhanced by approximately 1.91 times when compared with that of device before deposition of Au nanoparticles. In addition, in a vacuum under a voltage bias of 1 V, the photoresponsivity of the device reached 23.29 mA W-1 and 6.85 mA W-1 at 532 nm and 1064 nm, respectively. The surface plasmon polaritons of the Au nanoparticles allowed extension of the sensitivity of the photosensitive regions into the mid-infrared range. The experimental results show that the device photoresponsivity reached 2.26 mA W-1 at a voltage bias of 1 V under 10.6-mu m laser illumination in air.