Enhanced UV photoresponse from heterostructured Ag–ZnO nanowires

Abstract

Photoactive material consisting of heterogeneous Ag–ZnO nanowires (NWs) was prepared by electrospinning. Tunable UV photodetectors fabricated using Ag–ZnO NWs have shown high sensitivity up to over four orders of magnitude with relatively fast and stable response speed. The mechanism for this colossal photoconductivity is elucidated by means of the efficient exciton dissociation under UV illumination due to accelerated electron transfer from conduction band of ZnO to Ag nanoparticles. The facile process proposed here may pave the way for designing sensing and imaging systems.