Ultrasensitive Near-Infrared Photodetectors Based on a Graphene–MoTe2–Graphene Vertical van der Waals Heterostructure

Graphene and other layered materials, such as transition metal dichalcogenides, have rapidly established themselves as exceptional building blocks for optoelectronic applications because of their unique properties and atomically thin nature. The ability to stack them into van der Waals (vdWs) heterostructures with new functionality has opened a new platform for fundamental research and device applications. Nevertheless, near-infrared (NIR) photodetectors based on layered semiconductors are rarely realized. In this work, we fabricate a graphene–MoTe2–graphene vertical vdWs heterostructure on a SiO2/p+-Si substrate by a facile and reliable site-controllable transfer method and apply it for photodetection from the visible to NIR wavelength range. Compared to the layered semiconductor photodetectors reported thus far, the graphene–MoTe2–graphene photodetector has a superior performance, including high photoresponsivity (∼110 mA W–1 at 1064 nm and 205 mA W–1 at 473 nm), high external quantum efficiency (EQE; ∼12.9% at 1064 nm and ∼53.8% at 473 nm), rapid response and recovery processes (a rise time of 24 μs and a fall time of 46 μs under 1064 nm illumination), and free from an external source–drain power supply. We have employed scanning photocurrent microscopy to investigate the photocurrent generation in this heterostructure under various back-gate voltages and found that the two Schottky barriers between the graphenes and MoTe2 play an important role in the photocurrent generation. In addition, the vdWs heterostructure has a uniform photoresponsive area. The photoresponsivity and EQE of the photodetector can be modulated by the back-gate (p+-Si) voltage. We compared the responsivities of thin and thick flakes and found that the responsivity had a strong dependence on the thickness. The heterostructure has promising applications in future novel optoelectronic devices, enabling next-generation high-responsivity, high-speed, flexible, and transparent NIR devices.