Photocurrent spectra for above and below bandgap energies from photovoltaic PbS infrared detectors with graphene transparent electrodes

Abstract We discussed photocurrent spectra of photovoltaic PbS infrared detectors using multi-layer graphene as transparent electrode, where p-PbS films were deposited on TiO2/FTO substrates by chemical bath deposition. In the photocurrent spectra, we observed both above-bandgap and sub-bandgap photocurrent without any external bias. We discussed impurity band model and grain boundary model in order to explain the sub-bandgap photocurrent near 15 μm. Since FTO is transparent in the visible range, we were able to illuminate green laser beam from the FTO back-side, and photo-response up to 50 μm was found to be enhanced. This long wavelength photo-response was attributed to the excitation of the photo-electrons accumulated at the TiO2/PbS interface. Our photovoltaic PbS devices can detect not only short-infrared but also terahertz radiation at room temperature, which is highly applicable to various fields.