中国物理B ›› 2026, Vol. 35 ›› Issue (6): 68503-068503.doi: 10.1088/1674-1056/ae617d

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Work function engineering of MXene contacts for high-performance, self-powered AlGaN solar-blind photodetectors

Pan Dai(代盼)1, Dengshan Cai(蔡登山)1, Wenxian Yang(杨文献)2,†, Ying Gu(顾颖)2, Haowen Hua(华浩文)2, Mengyang Huang(黄梦洋)2, Peng Zhang(张鹏)2, Xueyan Feng(冯雪雁)2, Sijia Wei(魏思嘉)2, Zheng Zhong(钟政)2, Yi Gong(龚毅)3, Jianjun Zhu(朱建军)2, Shan Jin(金山)2,‡, Shulong Lu(陆书龙)2, and Min Jiang(蒋敏)2,§   

  1. 1 School of Information Engineering, Huzhou University, Huzhou 213000, China;
    2 Key Laboratory of Semiconductor Display Materials and Chips, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Suzhou 215123, China;
    3 College of Future Information Technology, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
  • 收稿日期:2026-03-16 修回日期:2026-04-05 接受日期:2026-04-20 发布日期:2026-06-15
  • 通讯作者: Wenxian Yang, Shan Jin, Min Jiang E-mail:wxyang2014@sinano.ac.cn;sjin2017@sinano.ac.cn;mjiang2020@sinano.ac.cn
  • 基金资助:
    This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program (Grant No. 2023YFB3609800), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 62304244), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2025M780550), Frontier Technologies R&D Program of Jiangsu (Grant No. BF2025032), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu (Grant No. BK20230235), the Suzhou Key Core Technology Project: Leading the Charge with Open Competition (Grant No. SYG2024104), the Welfare Applied Research Project of Huzhou (Grant No. 2025GY009), and the “Eagle Fund” Student Original Research Project of the USTC (Grant No. XY2025G002). We are grateful to the technical support from Vacuum Interconnected Nanotech Workstation (Nano-X), Nanofabrication Facility (SNFF), and Platform for Characterization & Test from Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics (SINANO), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

Work function engineering of MXene contacts for high-performance, self-powered AlGaN solar-blind photodetectors

Pan Dai(代盼)1, Dengshan Cai(蔡登山)1, Wenxian Yang(杨文献)2,†, Ying Gu(顾颖)2, Haowen Hua(华浩文)2, Mengyang Huang(黄梦洋)2, Peng Zhang(张鹏)2, Xueyan Feng(冯雪雁)2, Sijia Wei(魏思嘉)2, Zheng Zhong(钟政)2, Yi Gong(龚毅)3, Jianjun Zhu(朱建军)2, Shan Jin(金山)2,‡, Shulong Lu(陆书龙)2, and Min Jiang(蒋敏)2,§   

  1. 1 School of Information Engineering, Huzhou University, Huzhou 213000, China;
    2 Key Laboratory of Semiconductor Display Materials and Chips, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Suzhou 215123, China;
    3 College of Future Information Technology, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
  • Received:2026-03-16 Revised:2026-04-05 Accepted:2026-04-20 Published:2026-06-15
  • Contact: Wenxian Yang, Shan Jin, Min Jiang E-mail:wxyang2014@sinano.ac.cn;sjin2017@sinano.ac.cn;mjiang2020@sinano.ac.cn
  • Supported by:
    This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program (Grant No. 2023YFB3609800), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 62304244), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2025M780550), Frontier Technologies R&D Program of Jiangsu (Grant No. BF2025032), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu (Grant No. BK20230235), the Suzhou Key Core Technology Project: Leading the Charge with Open Competition (Grant No. SYG2024104), the Welfare Applied Research Project of Huzhou (Grant No. 2025GY009), and the “Eagle Fund” Student Original Research Project of the USTC (Grant No. XY2025G002). We are grateful to the technical support from Vacuum Interconnected Nanotech Workstation (Nano-X), Nanofabrication Facility (SNFF), and Platform for Characterization & Test from Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics (SINANO), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

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摘要： AlGaN-based solar-blind UV photodetectors are crucial for critical applications but suffer from Fermi-level pinning that leads to high dark current. Constructing a high-barrier heterojunction interface effectively suppresses dark current, yet controlling the AlGaN/two-dimensional material barrier via work function modulation remains challenging. Here, we tailor the work function of MXene (3.7-4.6 eV) through surface oxidation to fabricate self-powered MXene/AlGaN van der Waals photodetectors. By alleviating Fermi-level pinning and forming a deep-depletion barrier, the device exhibits a suppression of dark current by nearly four orders of magnitude at 0 V (10$^{-14}$ A regime). Consequently, the device achieves a high responsivity of 15 mA/W and a specific detectivity of 2$\times10^{11}$ Jones at 280 nm, accompanied by a rapid response time of 0.66 ms. This work validates work function engineering as a potent strategy for optimizing interface energetics and boosting the performance of wide-bandgap optoelectronics.

关键词: AlGaN, MXene, solar-blind photodetector, work function engineering, van der Waals heterojunction

Abstract: AlGaN-based solar-blind UV photodetectors are crucial for critical applications but suffer from Fermi-level pinning that leads to high dark current. Constructing a high-barrier heterojunction interface effectively suppresses dark current, yet controlling the AlGaN/two-dimensional material barrier via work function modulation remains challenging. Here, we tailor the work function of MXene (3.7-4.6 eV) through surface oxidation to fabricate self-powered MXene/AlGaN van der Waals photodetectors. By alleviating Fermi-level pinning and forming a deep-depletion barrier, the device exhibits a suppression of dark current by nearly four orders of magnitude at 0 V (10$^{-14}$ A regime). Consequently, the device achieves a high responsivity of 15 mA/W and a specific detectivity of 2$\times10^{11}$ Jones at 280 nm, accompanied by a rapid response time of 0.66 ms. This work validates work function engineering as a potent strategy for optimizing interface energetics and boosting the performance of wide-bandgap optoelectronics.

Key words: AlGaN, MXene, solar-blind photodetector, work function engineering, van der Waals heterojunction

中图分类号:  (Photodetectors (including infrared and CCD detectors))

  • 85.60.Gz
73.61.Ey (III-V semiconductors) 73.22.-f (Electronic structure of nanoscale materials and related systems) 73.30.+y (Surface double layers, Schottky barriers, and work functions)