Nitrocellulose‐Passivated SnO2 Thin Film as a Ultraviolet‐C Photodetector

Abstract

This study demonstrates the development of an ultraviolet (UV)‐C photodetector (PD) fabricated using a surface‐passivated SnO2 thin film deposited via spray pyrolysis. This PD possesses an unprecedentedly fast response speed, with both rise time and decay time of 0.3 ms. Furthermore, even when subjected to a modest UV light intensity of 6 μW cm−2, the device shows a significantly high responsivity of 1500 A W−1, external quantum efficiency of 7 × 105%, and detectivity of 1013 Jones. When compared to previously reported SnO2‐based PDs, this device exhibits consistent performance over a long working time, which may be due to the suppression of surface vacancy defects via surface passivation, as observed from structural and optical measurements. This type of PDs has the potential to be useful in wide range of applications, including industrial sensing, medical diagnostics, and environmental monitoring.