ZnO UV photodetector with controllable quality factor and photosensitivity

ZnO nanowires have an enormous potential for applications as ultra-violet (UV) photodetectors. Their mechanism of photocurrent generation is intimately related with the presence of surface states where considerable efforts, such as surface chemical modifications, have been pursued to improve their photodetection capabilities. In this work, we report a step further in this direction demonstrating that the relative photosensitivity and quality factor (Q factor) of the photodetector are entirely tunable by an applied gate voltage. This mechanism enables UV photodetection selectivity ranging from wavelengths from tens of nanometers (full width at half maximum - FWHM) down to a narrow detection of 3 nm. Such control paves the way for novel applications, especially related to the detection of elements that have very sharp luminescence.