Facile construction of vertically aligned ZnO nanorod/PEDOT:PSS hybrid heterojunction-based ultraviolet light sensors: Efficient performance and mechanism

We demonstrate a simple, planar manufacturing process-compatible fabrication of highly efficient UV sensors based on a hybrid heterojunction of an array of vertically aligned ZnO nanorods (NRs) and PEDOT:PSS. The ZnO NR array was grown by the solution growth process and the aspect ratio (length 1 to 4 μm, diameter ∼80 nm) of the rods was controlled by varying the growth time. UV sensors based on (i) naked ZnO NRs and (ii) ZnO NR/PEDOT:PSS heterojunctions were fabricated and tested. The UV sensitivity of bare ZnO NRs was found to increase with increasing aspect ratio of the NRs due to the increase in the photogenerated charge carriers as the fraction of material interacting with the light increases. Under 5 V bias, naked ZnO NR arrays showed a photocurrent of 8.84 × 10^-5 A, a responsivity of 0.538 A W^-1 and a sensitivity of 4.80 under UV (λ = 256 nm, 130 μW) illumination. ZnO NR/PEDOT:PSS hybrid heterojunctions showed diode-like behavior with a leakage current less than 2.54 × 10^-8 A at -5 V and forward turn-on voltage of 1.1 V. ZnO NR/polymer-based hybrid heterojunctions show a photocurrent of 6.74 × 10^-4 A, responsivity of 5.046 A W^-1 and excellent sensitivity of 37.65 under UV (λ = 256 nm, 130 μW) illumination. Compared with bare ZnO NR arrays, the ZnO NR/polymer heterojunction device shows responsivity enhanced by a factor of 10, sensitivity enhanced by a factor of 8 and faster rise and decay time. The enhanced performance may be due to effective charge separation guided by the built-in potential formed at the interface between ZnO NRs and PEDOT:PSS.