Reduced graphene oxide/ZnO hybrid structure for high-performance photodetection

We report the optoelectronic behavior of a novel reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/ZnO structure which has been realized by photocatalytic reduction of chemically exfoliated GO sheets. Lateral ZnO nanowires, which are grown between interdigital electrodes by a novel plasma-assisted procedure, are utilized as the photocatalyst metal oxide in the presented heterostructure. Raman spectroscopy and FTIR analyses are utilized to show that photocatalytic reduction of GO sheets, with few (less than 5) layers, occurs after about 30 min of UV-illumination. Low-temperature electrical characterizations are applied to demonstrate one-dimensional behavior of the realized rGO ribbons, with an estimated width of around 30 nm. The optoelectronic characteristics of the fabricated rGO/ZnO hybrid structure also lead to high responsivity of about 12 A/W and a sensitivity of about 5 × 104− % (at the bias voltage of −5 V), which entitles the fabricated structure as an efficient photodetector. All in all, our experimental results open up a promising simple approach to fabricate GNR-based devices by assisting lateral ZnO nanowire, without involving nanolithography issues.