Vapor-Phase Epitaxial Growth of Large-Scale High Crystalline Sb2Se3 Nanowires for Photodetector Application

One-dimensional (1D) semiconductors have attracted much interest due to their unique structures and unusual properties. The direct vapor growth of high-quality 1D nanowires remains a significant challenge. In this study, high-quality Sb2Se3 nanowires are directly grown on insulating SiO2/Si substrate by improved vapor-phase epitaxy. The x-ray diffraction pattern and Raman spectrum demonstrate the composition of the as-prepared samples. Transmission electron microscopy characterization confirms high crystallization quality of Sb2Se3 nanowires. The electrical transport results show that Sb2Se3 nanowires exhibit electrical properties of a p-type semiconductor and have a current on/off ratio (Ion/Ioff) of ~ 102. The photoelectric test data indicate that Sb2Se3 nanowires have a good optical detection capability. The photoresponsivity is 4.12 A/W for Sb2Se3 nanowires with a diameter of 17 nm and up to 270 A/W for Sb2Se3 nanowires with a diameter of 55 nm, and the fast photoresponse time is less than 8 ms. Together, the as-grown Sb2Se3 nanowires with high quality have potential applications in electronics and optoelectronics.