LAUSR

Abstract Organic/inorganic ultraviolet photodetector was fabricated using thermal evaporation technique. Organic/inorganic heterojunction based on thermally evaporated copper (II) acetylacetonate thin film of thickness 200 nm deposited on an n-type silicon substrate is introduced. I–V characteristics of the fabricated heterojunction were investigated under UV illumination of intensity 65 mW/cm2. The diode parameters such as ideality factor, n, barrier height, ΦB, and reverse saturation current, Is, were determined using thermionic emission theory. The series resistance of the fabricated diode was determined using modified Nord's method. The estimated values of series resistance and barrier height of the diode were about 0.33 KΩ and 0.72 eV, respectively. The fabricated photodetector exhibited a responsivity and specific detectivity about 9 mA/W and 4.6 × 109 Jones, respectively. The response behavior of the fabricated photodetector was analyzed through ON-OFF switching behavior. The estimated values of rise and fall time of the present architecture under UV illumination were about 199 ms and 154 ms, respectively. Finally, enhancing the photoresponsivity of the fabricated photodetector, post-deposition plasma treatment process was employed. A remarkable modification of the device performance was noticed as a result of plasma treatment. These modifications are representative in a decrease of series resistance and an increase of photoresponsivity and specific detectivity. The process of plasma treatment achieved an increment of external quantum efficiency from 5.53% to 8.34% at −3.5 V under UV illumination.