Enhanced photoresponse of a metal-oxide-semiconductor photodetector with silicon nanocrystals embedded in the oxide layer

The authors report a two-terminal metal-oxide-semiconductor photodetector for which light is absorbed in a capping layer of silicon nanocrystals embedded in a mesoporous silica matrix on p -type silicon substrates. Operated at reverse bias, enhanced photoresponse from 300 to 700 nm was observed. The highest optoelectronic conversion efficiency is as high as 200%. The enhancements were explained by a transistorlike mechanism, in which the inversion layer acts as the emitter and trapped positive charges in the mesoporous dielectric layer assist carrier injection from the inversion layer to the contact, such that the primary photocurrent could be amplified.