High-responsivity ultraviolet–visible photodetector based on an individual (GaN)1-x(ZnO)x solid solution nanobelt

(GaN)1-x(ZnO)x solid solution (SS) attracts much attention in the field of photodetectors and photocatalysis due to their excellent photoresponse and adjustable band gap. Although (GaN)1-x(ZnO)x nanoparticles, nanorods and nanosheets have been successfully synthesized, the preparation of one-dimensional (GaN)1-x(ZnO)x SS nanobelts (SSNBs) and their photoresponse performance are rarely reported due to the difficulty of preparation. In this study, single crystal (GaN)1-x(ZnO)x SSNBs with a ZnO content of ∼12.6% are synthesized by a convenient CVD method using liquid Ga as the nucleation site. The prepared NBs are pure (GaN)1-x(ZnO)x SS and not the two-phase compound of ZnO and GaN. More important, the SSNBs with tens of micrometers in length and hundreds of nanometers in width feature the excellent ultraviolet and visible light response. Upon UV illumination (365 nm), the photodetector based on a single (GaN)1-x(ZnO)x SSNB achieves a photoresponse speed of 330 ms and a photoresponsivity of 2.8 × 105 A/W. Under visible illumination (532 nm), the photodetector displays a photoresponse speed of 480 ms and a photoresponse of 1.9 × 104 A/W. This study not only proposes a new method for the synthesis of (GaN)1-x(ZnO)x SSNBs, but also paves the way for the use of (GaN)1-x(ZnO)x SSNBs as building blocks for broad-spectrum responsive photodetectors.