Multifunctional GeAs/WS₂ Heterojunctions for Highly Polarization-Sensitive Photodetectors in the Short-Wave Infrared Range

Polarization-sensitive photodetectors in the infrared range have attracted considerable attention because of their unique and wide application prospects in polarization sensors and remote sensing. However, it is challenging to achieve short-wave infrared polarization detection as most polarization-sensitive photodetectors are based on transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMD) materials with in-plane symmetric crystal structure and sizable band gap (1–2 eV). In this work, we design a type-II GeAs/WS2 heterojunction realizing superior self-driven polarization-sensitive photodetection in the short-wave infrared region. The device shows obvious rectifying behavior with a rectification ratio of 1.5 × 104 in the dark and excellent photoresponse characteristics in a broad spectral range. Accordingly, the high responsivity of 509 mA/W, large on/off ratio of 103, a high EQE of 99.8%, and a high specific detectivity of 1.08 × 1012 Jones are obtained under 635 nm laser irradiation. Taking advantage of the narrow band gap of GeAs with an anisotropic structure, the detection spectral coverage can be extended from the visible to the short-wave infrared range (635–1550 nm). Further, the GeAs/WS2 heterojunction shows high polarization sensitivity with an anisotropic photocurrent ratio of 4.5 and 3.1 at zero bias under 1310 and 1550 nm laser irradiation, respectively, which is much higher than that of reported polarization-sensitive photodetectors in the infrared region. This work provides an effective route using low-symmetry 2D materials with narrow band gap and anisotropic structure to design van der Waals (vdW) heterojunctions, realizing multifunctional optoelectronics for rectifying, photovoltaics, and polarization-sensitive photodetectors with spectral coverage up to 1550 nm.