Highly Stretchable and Sensitive Photodetectors Based on Hybrid Graphene and Graphene Quantum Dots

Abstract

Stretchable devices possess great potential in a wide range of applications, such as biomedical and wearable gadgets and smart skin, which can be integrated with the human body. Because of their excellent flexibility, two-dimensional (2D) materials are expected to play an important role in the fabrication of stretchable devices. However, only a limited number of reports have been devoted to investigating stretchable devices based on 2D materials, and the stretchabilities were restricted in a very small strain. Moreover, there is no report related to the stretchable photodetectors derived from 2D materials. Herein, we demonstrate a highly stretchable and sensitive photodetector based on hybrid graphene and graphene quantum dots (GQDs). A unique rippled structure of poly(dimethylsiloxane) is used to support the graphene layer, which can be stretched under an external strain far beyond published reports. The ripple of the device can overcome the native stretchability limit of graphene and enhance the carrier generation in GQDs due to multiple reflections of photons between the ripples. Our strategy presented here can be extended to many other material systems, including other 2D materials. It therefore paves a key step for the development of stretchable electronics and optical devices.