Polarization-sensitive self-powered tellurium microwire near-infrared photodetector

Self-powered near-infrared detectors that can work without an external power source underpin important applications in versatile fields. Herein, a self-powered near-infrared (NIR) detector with a metal–semiconductor–metal structure was fabricated by mounting a hydrothermal synthesized Te microwire onto Ti electrodes. Under 1550 nm illumination, the detector exhibits a responsivity of 3.47 × 105 V/W and 170 mA/W and a detectivity of 4 × 109 Jones at room temperature. Such competitive performance can be attributed to the built-in electric fields induced by the asymmetric Schottky barrier. Moreover, benefiting from the highly anisotropic structure of the Te microwire, the polarization dichroic ratio of the device under 1550 nm irradiation can reach up to 2.1. This work provided a facile strategy to realize polarization-sensitive self-powered near-infrared (NIR) detection in a wide temperature range.