Importance of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticle Concentration on the Electrical Properties of Lead Sulfide Quantum Dots-Based Shortwave Infrared Photodetectors

We describe the importance of zinc oxide nanoparticle (ZnO NP) concentration in the enhancement of electrical properties in a lead sulfide quantum dot (PbS QD)-based shortwave infrared (SWIR) photodetector. ZnO NPs were synthesized using the sol–gel method. The concentration of the ZnO NPs was controlled as 20, 30 and 40 mg/mL in this study. Note that the ZnO NPs layer is commonly used as an electron transport layer in PbS QDs SWIR photodetectors. The photo-to-dark ratio, which is an important parameter of a photodetector, was intensively examined to evaluate the electrical performance. The 20 mg/mL condition of ZnO NPs exhibited the highest photo-to-dark ratio value of 5 at −1 V, compared with 1.8 and 0.4 for 30 mg/mL and 40 mg/mL, respectively. This resulted because the electron mobility decreased when the concentration of ZnO NPs was higher than the optimized value. Based on our results, the concentration of ZnO NPs was observed to play an important role in the electrical performance of the PbS QDs SWIR photodetector.