Issue

Vol. 17 (2025)

Single-Crystal Diamond Nanowires Embedded with Platinum Nanoparticles for High-Temperature Solar-Blind Photodetector

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-025-01746-9
Jiaqi Lu
School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Shenyang 110016, People’s Republic of China
Xinglai Zhang
School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Shenyang 110016, People’s Republic of China
Shun Feng
School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Shenyang 110016, People’s Republic of China
Bing Yang
School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Shenyang 110016, People’s Republic of China
Ming Huang
School of Environment and Chemical Engineering, Shenyang University of Technology, Shenyang 110870, People’s Republic of China
Yubin Guo
School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Shenyang 110016, People’s Republic of China
Lingyue Weng
School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Shenyang 110016, People’s Republic of China
Nan Huang
School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Shenyang 110016, People’s Republic of China
Lusheng Liu
Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, People’s Republic of China
Xin Jiang
Institute of Materials Engineering, University of Siegen, 57076 Siegen, Germany
Dongming Sun
School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Shenyang 110016, People’s Republic of China
Huiming Cheng
School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Shenyang 110016, People’s Republic of China

Corresponding Author: Dongming Sun

dmsun@imr.ac.cn

Nano-Micro Letters, Vol. 17 (2025), Article Number: 220

Abstract

Diamond, an ultrawide-bandgap semiconductor material, is promising for solar-blind ultraviolet photodetectors in extreme environments. However, when exposed to high-temperature conditions, diamond photodetector surfaces are unavoidably terminated with oxygen, leading to low photoresponsivity. To address this limitation, single-crystalline diamond nanowires (DNWs) embedded with platinum (Pt) nanoparticles were developed using Pt film deposition followed by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) homoepitaxial growth. During the CVD, Pt nanoparticles (approximately 20 nm in diameter) undergo dewetting and become uniformly embedded within the single-crystalline DNWs. Photodetectors fabricated with these Pt nanoparticles-embedded DNWs achieve a responsivity of 68.5 A W−1 under 220 nm illumination at room temperature, representing an improvement of approximately 2000 times compared to oxygen-terminated bulk diamond devices. Notably, the responsivity further increases with temperature, reaching an exceptional value of 3098.7 A W−1 at 275 °C. This outstanding performance is attributed to the synergistic effects of the one-dimensional nanowire structure, deep-level defects, the localized surface plasmon resonance effects induced by embedded Pt nanoparticles, and localized Schottky junctions at the Pt/diamond interface, which enhance optical absorption, carrier generation, and separation efficiency. These results highlight the significant potential of Pt nanoparticles-embedded DNWs for advanced deep ultraviolet detection in harsh environments, including aerospace, industrial monitoring, and other applications.


Highlights:
1 Single-crystalline diamond nanowires embedded with platinum nanoparticles were fabricated for high-temperature solar-blind photodetection.
2 At room temperature, the photodetector's responsivity represents a 2000-fold enhancement compared to bulk diamond. At 275 °C, the device demonstrates a responsivity of 3098.7 A W-1, while maintaining excellent spectral selectivity.
3 Multiple factors synergistically enhance performance, including one-dimensional carrier transport channels, deep-level defects, localized surface plasmon resonance effect, and localized Schottky junctions.

Keywords

Diamond Nanowire High temperature UV photodetector Microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition
Lu, Jiaqi, Xinglai Zhang, Shun Feng, Bing Yang, Ming Huang, Yubin Guo, Lingyue Weng, Nan Huang, Lusheng Liu, Xin Jiang, Dongming Sun, and Huiming Cheng. 2025. “Single-Crystal Diamond Nanowires Embedded With Platinum Nanoparticles for High-Temperature Solar-Blind Photodetector”. Nano-Micro Letters 17 (April):220. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-025-01746-9.
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