Hydrothermally grown SnS2/Si nanowire core-shell heterostructure photodetector with excellent optoelectronic performances

Core-shell nanowire heterostructure is a new architecture for photodetector application with enlarged active surface area enhancing light absorption and photodetector performance. As an emanating coating material, SnS2 has a growing interest in next-generation optoelectronic materials. Here, we reported the enhanced optoelectronic performance of the hydrothermally grown SnS2 and Si nanowire (SiNWs) core–shell heterostructure. Hydrothermally grown SnS2 on Si nanowire creates a uniform coating over the entire surface of nanowires which enhances the heterostructure’s effective junction area and improves optoelectronic performance over the broad spectral range (300 – 1100 nm). Specially, under 340 nm illumination, the core–shell photodetector exhibits large responsivity (∼383 A/W) and extremely high external quantum efficiency (∼2 × 105 %) at very low optical power (∼20 nW/mm2). This SnS2/SiNWs core–shell heterostructure with significantly improved optoelectronic performance will be favourable for the development of photodetector with an ability to work with extremely high efficiency.