Self‐Driven Metal–Semiconductor–Metal WSe₂ Photodetector with Asymmetric Contact Geometries

Abstract

Abstract Self‐driven photodetectors have wide applications in wireless sensor networks and wearable physiological monitoring systems. While 2D materials have different bandgaps for potential novel application fields, the self‐driven photodetectors are mainly built on PN junctions or heterostructures, whose fabrication involves doping or reliable multiple transfer steps. In this study, a novel metal–semiconductor–metal (MSM) WSe 2 photodetector with asymmetric contact geometries is proposed. A high responsivity of 2.31 A W −1 is obtained under zero bias, and a large open‐circuit voltage of 0.42 V is achieved for an MSM photodetector with a large contact length difference. The MSM photodetector can overcome the disadvantage of high dark current in traditional MSM photodetectors. A small dark current of ≈1 fA along with a high detectivity of 9.16 × 10 11 Jones is achieved. The working principles and finite element analysis are presented to explain the origin of the self‐driven property and its dependence on the degree of asymmetry.