Research Article
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Design of p-WSe2/n-Ge Heterojunctions for High-Speed
Broadband Photodetectors
Chan Ho Lee, Youngseo Park, Sukhyeong Youn, Min Jae Yeom, Hyun S. Kum,
Jiwon Chang, Junseok Heo,* and Geonwook Yoo*
Van der Waals (vdW) 2D/3D heterostructures are extensively studied for
high-performance photodetector applications. Until now, the type of 2D
materials has been the primary area of interest rather than the design of
3D semiconductors. In this study, high-speed broadband photodiodes
(PDs) based on vdW p-WSe2/n-Ge heterojunctions are reported, and
the performance compared with different n-Ge regions formed via the
ion-implantation process. The fabricated PD with a typical long n-Ge
region and low doping concentration responds to a broad spectral range
from visible to infrared near 1550 nm with a response time of ≈3 µs and
responsivity of 1.3 A W−1. The inferior responsivity of PDs with short n-Ge
regions can be improved as demonstrated by experimental results and
process simulation. Density functional theory calculations are performed
to estimate the variation of the energy band structures with the doping
concentration of n-Ge. Fast photoresponse and efficient carrier separation
across the heterojunction can be expected regardless of the n-Ge doping
concentration. Based on the experimental results together with theoretical
band structure and process simulation, it is shown that the heterojunc-
tion with an optimized n-Ge design is a promising high-speed broadband
photodetector that can be implemented with complementary metal-oxide-
semiconductor design and fabrication processes.
1. Introduction
2D transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) have shown
great potential as promising candidate materials for next-gener-
ation nanoelectronic and optoelectronic devices because of their
tunable bandgap, high mobility, and their ability to form high-
quality interfaces in van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures.[1–5]
C. H. Lee, M. J. Yeom, G. Yoo
School of Electronic Engineering
Soongsil University
Seoul 06938, South Korea
E-mail: gwyoo@ssu.ac.kr
Y. Park, J. Heo
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Ajou University
Suwon 16499, South Korea
E-mail: jsheo@ajou.ac.kr
The ORCID identification number(s) for the author(s) of this article
can be found under https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202107992.
DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202107992
Adv. Funct. Mater. 2022, 32, 2107992 2107992  (1 of 8)
The energy band alignment of the family
of 2D materials can be tailored in epitaxy-
free vdW heterostructures,[6–8] which
further expands and enhances their appli-
cations in the fields of photodetectors,
light emitters, and even lasers.[1,9,10] This
has led to significant advances in the field
of miniaturized broadband photodetec-
tors with single-device structures in recent
years.[11,12]
However, the intrinsically low optical
absorption of 2D semiconductors leads to
low responsivity in photodetectors based
on 2D–2D heterostructures, especially in
the infrared range, for which a long pen-
etration depth is preferred.[13] Therefore,
an alternative strategy of stacking 2D
materials with conventional 3D semicon-
ductors has been adopted so that materials
with high light absorption coefficients can
be used based on phototransistor and pho-
todiode device schemes.[14–18]
In vdW 2D/3D heterostructures, the
region comprising the 3D semiconductor,
which may include III–V compounds
as well as group IV semiconductors can
be controlled via a reliable and stable
fabrication process.[19] Germanium (Ge) in group IV,
which has a narrow bandgap of ≈0.7  eV, is promising not
only for Infrared (IR) detection but also for complementary
metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible processes and
designs.[20–23] In particular, a well-established ion-implantation
process supported by an industry-standard process simulation
allows the design of more feasible vdW 2D/3D heterostructure
S. Youn, J. Chang
Department of System Semiconductor Engineering
Yonsei University
Seoul 03722, South Korea
S. Youn, J. Chang
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Yonsei University
Seoul 03722, South Korea
H. S. Kum
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Yonsei University
Seoul 03722, South Korea
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photodiodes.[24] In such photodiode, the thickness and doping
concentration of the 3D region can significantly affect the
optical performance. In contrast to the rigorous studies on 2D
materials and related operating mechanisms, the design and
process of 3D semiconductors have been barely reported.
In this work, we report on high-speed and broadband
photo­diodes based on vdW p-WSe2/n-Ge heterojunctions and
compare their performance with the thickness and doping
concentration of the n-Ge region fabricated via an ion-implan-
tation process. PN junction diodes with a typical long n-Ge
region and a low doping concentration (LD) are directly com-
pared with those containing short n-Ge regions with high
doping concentration (HD). Diodes with short n-Ge regions
of different doping concentrations and thicknesses are pre-
pared via a post-thermal annealing process. The fabricated
photodiodes respond to a broad spectral range from visible
(VIS) to IR near 1550  nm with a response time of ≈3 µs and
a decent responsivity of 1.3 A W−1. Density functional theory
(DFT) calculations are performed to estimate the variation
of the energy band structures with the doping concentration
of n-Ge. Efficient carrier separation across the heterojunc-
tion can be expected regardless of the n-Ge doping concen-
tration. The experimental results and the Sentaurus process
(SProcess) simulation demonstrate that the responsivity of
photodiodes with ion-implanted n-Ge regions is enhanced.
The results can offer design strategies for high performance
photodetectors based on p-WSe2/n-Ge as well as other 2D/3D
heterojunctions.
Figure 1.  a) A 3D schematic illustration of the p-WSe2/n-Ge heterostructure photodiode. b) Schematics of the heterojunction with SProcess simulated
doping profiles in n-Ge toward efficient visible (638 nm) and infrared (850 nm) light adsorption. c) An optical microscope image of the fabricated
device. d) The thickness profile of the transferred p-WSe2 flakes on both n-Ge (LD) and n-Ge (HD). e) The micro-Raman spectra of the Ge substrate,
p-WSe2/n-Ge (LD), and p-WSe2/n-Ge (HD) heterojunction.
Adv. Funct. Mater. 2022, 32, 2107992
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2. Results and Discussion
2.1. Device Structure and Characteristics
Figure 1a shows the 3D schematic illustration of the fabri-
cated p-WSe2/n-Ge heterostructure photodiode (PD) and sche-
matic of the heterojunction with SProcess simulated doping
profiles in Ge region toward efficient visible (638  nm) and
infrared (850  nm) light adsorption is presented in Figure  1b.
WSe2 flakes were mechanically exfoliated from a bulk crystal
and transferred onto the edge of the patterned ALD–Al2O3
area using a dry-transfer technique under the guidance of an
optical microscope. A heterojunction was formed between
the transferred p-WSe2 and n-type Ge. Then, the anode and
cathode were formed onto p-WSe2 and n-type Ge, respectively.
Two types of n-Ge regions were used for the heterostructure:
An n-type arsenic (As)-doped (100) Ge wafer with a nominal
resistivity of 0.1–0.3 Ω·cm was used as n-Ge (LD), and an n-Ge
region formed via As ion-implantation on a p-type Ge wafer
was used as n-Ge (HD). Additionally, a finite n-Ge region with
a mid-doping level was prepared via a post thermal annealing
process for diffusion. Figure  1c shows an optical microscope
image of the fabricated device. The details of the device fabri-
cation process are described in the Experimental Section and
compared in Figure S1, Supporting Information.
Figure 1d shows the thickness of the transferred WSe2 flakes
on both n-Ge (LD) and (HD), which was identified to be ≈50 nm
by AFM. Figure  1e compares the micro-Raman spectra of the
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Figure 2.  a,b) I–V characteristics of the p-WSe2/n-Ge (HD, LD) heterojunction photodiodes under different illumination wavelengths (520, 638, 850,
and 1550 nm). c,d) The photocurrent (Iph) of both photodiodes under different wavelengths with variable optical power densities at the bias of −1.5 V.
e) Comparison of the measured noise current spectral density. f) Responsivity and detectivity of the photodiodes as a function of illuminated wavelengths.

p-WSe2/n-Ge (LD), p-WSe2/n-Ge (HD), and Ge substrates. Sim-
ilar WSe2 Raman spectra were observed for both heterojunc-
tions. Raman peaks at ≈246 cm–1 (E12g mode) and 255 cm–1 (A1g
mode) were identified for WSe2 on n-Ge (LD) while peaks at
≈249 cm–1 (E12g mode) and 258 cm–1 (A1g mode) were identi-
fied for WSe2 on n-Ge (HD).[25] The characteristic peaks of both
devices indicate their similar crystallinity.[26]
2.2. Electrical and Photoresponse Characteristics
Figure 2a,b shows the I–V characteristics of the p-WSe2/n-
Ge (HD, LD) photodiodes under different illumination wave-
lengths (520, 638, 850, and 1550  nm). Both devices showed
decent rectifying characteristics in the dark and under illumi-
nation; the PD with n-Ge (LD) showed an on/off ratio of ≈102
and an ideality factor (η) of 1.3. Although the PD with n-Ge
(HD) exhibited a larger η of 2.0 due to space charge recombi-
nation,[27] a higher on/off ratio of ≈106 and the low dark cur-
rent of 4 × 10–12 A at the bias of −1.5  V was obtained, which
is preferred because of the low noise level. Compared with a
longer n-Ge (LD) region, a shallow n-Ge (HD) region formed
by ion implantation has a lower probability of thermally gen-
erating minority carriers in the Ge region. This resulted in the
significantly lower dark current and higher on/off ratio in the
p-WSe2/n-Ge(HD) device. Figure 2c,d present the photocurrent
(Iph) of both photodiodes under different wavelengths with vari-
able optical power densities, at the bias of −1.5  V. The photo-
current was calculated as Iph = Ilight − Idark. It should be noted
that the PD with n-Ge (HD) showed a negligible change in Iph
at the wavelength of 1550 nm.
Prior to investigating the photoresponsivity (R) and specific
detectivity (D*), which are key figures of merit for photodetectors,
we performed noise current measurements at −1.5 V. The results
of the measured noise power densities are compared in Figure 2e.
Noise power density spectra showed 1/f1.2 (p-WSe2/n-Ge(LD)) and
1/f3.8(p-WSe2/n-Ge(HD)) relation in the low-frequency region
before reaching a steady and frequency-independent value
at higher frequencies.[28] The extracted photoresponsivity (R)
and specific detectivity (D*) are compared in Figure  2f. R was

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calculated as Iph/PA at the reverse bias of 1.5  V, where P is the
optical power density and A is the junction area. The junction
areas (A) of the PDs with HD-Ge and LD-Ge were 2.3 × 10–6 cm2
and 6.5 × 10–6 cm2, respectively. The p-WSe2/n-Ge(LD) photodiode
had superior R compared to the p-WSe2/n-Ge(HD) photodiode
across the measured wavelengths. The p-WSe2/n-Ge(LD) photo­
diode achieved R values of 1.3 A W−1 at 520  nm, 0.9 A W−1 at
638  nm, 1.4 at 850  nm, and 6.4 A W−1 at 1550  nm while the
p-WSe2/n-Ge(HD) photodiode achieved R values of 0.03 A W−1
at 520  nm, 0.03 A W−1 at 638  nm, 2.1  mA W−1 at 850  nm, and
8.2 × 10–2 mA W−1. D* was calculated as R A·BW /I n , where
BW is the bandwidth, and In is the shot noise current.[28,29] The
extracted noise current at the frequency of 60  Hz in Figure  2d
was used to calculate the measured noise equivalent power
(NEP) of In/R. The D* of the p-WSe2/n-Ge(LD) photodiode was
5.4 × 109 Jones in the visible range, which is higher than that of
the p-WSe2/n-Ge(HD) photodiode (4.1 × 107 Jones). At 1550 nm,
D* of the p-WSe2/n-Ge(LD) was 2.5 × 1010 Jones and that of the
p-WSe2/n-Ge(HD) photodiode 1.1 × 105 Jones.
The difference in the n-doping concentrations of Ge and
the corresponding depletion widths of the heterojunction PN
diodes can explain their distinctive electrical and photoresponse
characteristics. The illuminated photons must be absorbed in
the depletion region rather than in the charge-neutral region
in order to suppress the recombination of photogenerated elec-
tron and hole pairs.[30] Thus, the depletion width influences the
absorption efficiency and the optical properties. We calculated
the depletion width of the p-WSe2/n-Ge heterojunction via
2N dε1ε 2Vbi 2N aε1ε 2Vbi
xp = , and x n =
qN a (ε1N a + ε 2N d ) qN d (ε1N a + ε 2N d )
Figure 3.  Transient photoresponses of the p-WSe2/n-Ge (LD) photodiode at a reverse bias of −1.5 V. a) Iph during under consecutive on/off light modula-
tion at 638 nm, and b) its rising (≈3 µs) and falling time (≈3 µs) extracted during a single cycle of light modulation. c) Iph and d) extracted rising (≈30 µs)
and fall time (≈5 µs) under light modulation at 1550 nm. e) Comparison of rising and falling times of the device response under different wavelengths.
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where ε1, ε2 are the dielectric constants of WSe2 and Ge
respectively; Nd is the doping concentration of n-Ge; and Na
is the doping concentration of p-WSe2 calculated from the
fabricated WSe2 FET.[31,32] Nd of n-Ge (LD) and n-Ge (HD)
was ≈2.0 × 1016 cm–3 and ≈8.0 × 1019 cm–3, respectively, which
was obtained by Hall measurements. Na was calculated to be
8.0 × 1017 cm–3. The depletion widths of the n-Ge region (xn)
under reverse bias were calculated to be 377 nm for n-Ge (LD)
and 0.36  nm for n-Ge (HD), and the corresponding depletion
widths of p-WSe2 (xp) were 10.3 and 44 nm, respectively. Because
of the wider depletion width (xn + xp) of the PD with n-Ge (LD)
than that of PD with n-Ge (HD), more photons are absorbed in
the former, resulting in higher photoresponsivity. Although the
xp of p-WSe2/n-Ge (HD) is wider, the Iph and R of p-WSe2/n-
Ge (LD) are higher because visible light is absorbed not only
in the xp of WSe2, but also in the xn of Ge; some photons
penetrate through the WSe2 layer and reach the n-Ge region
because of the low light absorption coefficient of WSe2.[13,20,33]
Consequently, incident visible light can be absorbed sufficiently
within the depletion region of the p-WSe2/n-Ge (LD) photo-
diode in consideration of their absorption coefficients. In con-
trast, the depletion region of the p-WSe2/n-Ge (HD) photodiode
is not sufficient to absorb visible light.
2.3. Transient Photoresponses
The transient photoresponse of the photodetector is a signifi-
cant performance parameter for high-speed applications. Many
of the reported photodetectors based on van der Waals hetero-
(1)
structures show a rather slow photoresponse. Figure 3a shows
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the Iph of the p-WSe2/n-Ge (LD) photodiode at −1 V under con-
secutive on/off light modulation at 638 nm. Figure 3b presents
the extracted rising (≈3 µs) and falling time (≈3 µs) during a
single cycle of light modulation. This is the fastest response
time achieved in a vdW heterostructure photodetector to the
best of our knowledge. The rising (falling) time was calcu-
lated as the time taken for the photocurrent to change from
10% (90%) to 90% (10%) of its stable value.[34] The transient
photoresponse at the wavelength of 1550 nm was also charac-
terized. Figure 3c,d shows Iph and the extracted rising (≈30µs)
and falling times (≈5 µs) under light modulation. Although the
rising time is longer than that in the visible range, it is still
comparable with the results from other devices based on vdW
junctions. As shown in Figure 3e, both the p-WSe2/n-Ge pho-
todiodes exhibited similar photoresponse times in the visible
range. The transient photoresponse of the p-WSe2/n-Ge (HD)
photodiode was not measured because of its low responsivity
at 850 and 1550 nm, as well as the limits of the measurement
setup.
The observed asymmetric transient photoresponse time can
be discussed using energy band diagrams. We theoretically
explore the band alignment between Ge and WSe2 through the
band structure calculation of the p-WSe2/n-Ge heterostructure
using density functional theory (DFT). As seen in Figure S4,
Supporting Information, 14 layers of WSe2 are vertically stacked
on the Ge (100) surface. We consider two doping densities of
1.0 × 1018 and 2.2 × 1016 cm–3 for the high and low n-type doped
Ge, respectively, and a fixed concentration of 8.0 × 1017 cm–3 for
the p-type WSe2. Calculated band structures for the p-WSe2/n-
Ge heterostructure are plotted in Figure 4a,b. The band struc-
tures of only Ge and only WSe2 are also calculated separately,
and overlaid on top of the p-WSe2/n-Ge heterostructure band
structure. It is confirmed that the band structures of only Ge
and only WSe2 are almost maintained in the heterostructure.
Additionally, comparison between Figure  4a,b reveals that the
effect of different doping density in Ge is minimal. The band
alignment between Ge and WSe2 is determined by identi-
fying the conduction band (CB) and valence band (VB) edges
of Ge and WSe2, respectively. The p-WSe2/n-Ge heterostruc-
ture exhibits a type II staggered gap with the CB and VB offsets
(ΔEc and ΔEv) of ≈0.3 and ≈0.7 eV, respectively.[35]
Figure 4c shows the energy band diagram of the heterojunc-
tion at thermal equilibrium with the calculated ΔEc and ΔEv.
Figure 4b shows the band diagram under reverse bias condition
and visible light illumination. Regardless of the n-Ge doping
concentration, photogenerated electrons in the p-WSe2 region
can be transported to the opposite side and collected there at
any energy barrier, resulting in a fast photoresponse in the vis-
ible range. However, in contrast to photons in the visible range,
only the n-Ge region can respond to the photon energy of
1550 nm; thus, the generated holes experience energy barriers
at the junction. In particular, the relatively slow rising time in
the infrared region, which is asymmetric with respect to the
falling time, can be ascribed to the potential well induced by
ΔEv at the heterointerface as presented in Figure 4c. The accu-
mulated holes in the potential well induce a further reduction

Figure 4.  Energy band diagrams of p-WSe2 and n-Ge. Band structures of the p-WSe2/n-Ge heterostructure with doping densities of a) 1.0 × 1018 and
b) 2.2 × 1016 cm–3 for the high and low n-type doped Ge, respectively. c) Energy band diagram of p-WSe2/n-Ge heterojunction in thermal equilibrium
with the indicated ΔEc and ΔEv of ≈0.3 and ≈0.7 eV, respectively; energy band diagrams with reverse bias under d) visible and e) infrared light illumina-
tion; The photo-generated electron–hole pairs in p-WSe2 under visible light can be transported and collected without energy barriers. However, the
photo-generated electron–hole pairs (in particular, holes) in n-Ge under infrared light should be transported across the potential barrier at the interface.

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Figure 5.  a) The doping profiles of n-Ge (HD) and its n-Ge (HD diff.) annealed for 30 min at 700 °C. b) Comparison of photo-responsivity of the three
fabricated p-WSe2/n-Ge (LD, HD, HD diff.) photodiodes for different wavelengths.
in the depletion width of the n-Ge side. Therefore, the portion
of carrier drift is reduced, and diffusion becomes more promi-
nent in the hole transport.[36]
2.4. Design Consideration and Benchmark
Although the PDs with a long infinite and a shallow n-Ge region
are an upper-limit and lower-limit, respectively, in the aspect
of the incident light absorption, a finite n-Ge region needs to
be considered for CMOS process integration. For comparison,
we fabricated an additional PD with an n-doping concentration
between those of aforementioned devices. Thermal annealing
at 700 °C for 30 min was performed using a furnace to diffuse
the implanted dopants. Figure 5a shows the simulated doping
profiles of the ion-implanted n-Ge (HD) before and after the
thermal annealing using the Sentaurus process (Synopsys)
software, which is an industry-standard simulator for semi-
conductor processes. Although there was a slight difference
(of less than an order) between the simulated (1 × 1019 cm–3)
n-Ge (HD) doping concentration and that obtained by Hall
measurements, the effect of thermal annealing was evident,
and the doping concentration of n-Ge (HD_diff.), which was
thermally annealed for drive-in diffusion of dopants, was
between those of the long (LD) and short (HD) n-Ge.[37–39]
For the given concentration, the depletion widths of
p-WSe2/n-Ge (HD diff.) were calculated to be xn  = 7.1  nm,
xp  = 42.9  nm. The xn of the n-Ge-side increased significantly
from the 0.36  nm without ion diffusion to 7.1  nm. Figure  5b
shows the photoresponsivity of the fabricated p-WSe2/n-Ge
(HD_diff.); photodiode improved results were obtained for vari-
able wavelengths compared with the short n-Ge (HD) hetero-
junction. The improvement is particularly significant (>  ×100)
in the infrared range (850 and 1550 nm), as anticipated from the
calculation. The results indicate that the photoresponsivity of
the proposed heterojunction photodiode depends on the doping
concentration and thickness of n-Ge, and that the proper ion-
implantation and post-process conditions should be explored.
Therefore, a comprehensive simulation of the n-Ge ion-
implantation process simulation was performed using an
industry standard TCAD simulator (Sprocess) to explore the
dependence of the doping profiles (e.g., concentration, the
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junction depth of ion-implanted n-Ge region) on the dose, and
post-thermal annealing conditions.[24] The penetration depth
of incident photons is given by the inverse of the intrinsic
absorption coefficient of the materials; it is preferable for the
penetration depth to be shorter than the depletion width of the
PN junction so that most of the light is absorbed for high effi-
ciency. On the other hand, as observed from the experimental
results, a long diode results in a higher dark current and slower
transient response speed. Therefore, the penetration depths of
various wavelengths in Ge were set as the target thicknesses
for the depletion width. The depths for the wavelengths of 520,
638, 850, and 1550  nm can be found in ref. [33]. The absorp-
tion of visible light in WSe2 was not considered for simplicity
because of its low absorption coefficient. Figure S7, Supporting
Information, shows the color charts of the simulated deple-
tion widths at thermal equilibrium state and junction depths.
By controlling the doping profiles of n-Ge, which are well-
established and stable compared to those of p-WSe2, the perfor-
mance of the p-WSe2/n-Ge heterojunction can be further opti-
mized via a reliable design.
To benchmark the performance of our devices with pub-
lished vdW 2D/2D and 2D/3D heterostructure photodetectors,
a comparison of the responsivity and response time is pre-
sented in Figure 6 and Table S1, Supporting Information. Our
p-WSe2/n-Ge heterojunction exhibits a faster response time
(≈3 µs), higher responsivity (≈1.3 A W−1), and a broad infrared
range (≈1550  nm), compared with a recently reported 2D/3D
(PtSe2/GaAs) heterojunction device.[14] Furthermore, the device
shows comparable performance to the fastest vdW 2D/2D het-
erojunction photodetector.
3. Conclusion
In summary, we demonstrated a high-speed broadband photo­
diode based on a vdW p-WSe2/n-Ge heterojunction. The
photodiode with a long n-Ge region of low doping (LD) con-
centration exhibited a fast response time (≈3 µs) and mod-
erate responsivity (≈1.3 A W−1) in a visible range (520  nm),
and response time (≈30 µs) and responsivity (6.4 A W−1) in
an IR range (1550  nm). Photodiode with a short n-Ge region
of a high doping (HD) concentration and a mid n-Ge region
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Figure 6.  Comparison of responsivity and response time of various
2D/2D and 2D/3D heterojunction devices. Our work demonstrates a fast
response time with comparable responsivity.
of a moderate doping (HD_diff.) concentration were fabricated
and compared. Although the p-WSe2/n-Ge (HD) photodiode
showed a similarly fast response time, it had inferior respon-
sivity and IR detection range because of the short n-Ge region
and narrow depletion width. The p-WSe2/n-Ge (HD_diff.)
photo­ diode exhibited responsivity and IR detection range,
which were attributed to its wider n-Ge region and depletion
width. Moreover, the DFT theoretical calculation results showed
that the conduction and valence band offsets between p-WSe2
and n-Ge are maintained regardless of the doping concentra-
tion of n-Ge region. Therefore, a similar fast transient photo­
response is expected, which is another significant merit of the
p-WSe2/n-Ge heterojunction. We believe that the p-WSe2/n-Ge
heterojunction with an optimized n-Ge design which is real-
ized by well-established ion implantation process and industry
standard process simulation can be a promising high speed
and broadband photodetector that can be implemented with
CMOS design and processes. Further, the results can provide
design strategy for high performance photodetectors based on
other 2D/3D heterojunctions.
4. Experimental Section
Device Fabrication: p-WSe2/n-Ge photodiodes were fabricated on
n-type As-doped (100) Ge wafer with a nominal resistivity of ≈0.1–0.3
Ω·cm and ion-implanted n-Ge regions formed on p-type Ge wafer
(As dose: 4 × 10–14 cm–2, RTA: 700 °C, 1  min, Energy: 40  keV). Ge was
pattered by conventional photolithography and etched by ICP RIE for
MESA isolation. Al2O3 layer (30  nm) was deposited using ALD at an
elevated stage temperature of 450 °C with TMA (trimethyl aluminium)
precursor and ozone reaction source. After that, Al2O3 and Ge were
pattered by conventional photolithography and etched by buffered oxide
etchant (6:1). WSe2 flakes exfoliated from a bulk crystal (HQ graphene
market) were transferred onto the Ge using a PDMS template via
optical alignment at an elevated stage temperature of 80 °C to form a
PN junction. Pt/Au and Ti/Au were deposited for anode and cathode via
E-gun evaporation and patterned using conventional photolithography
and lift-off process.
Characterizations: Micro-Raman spectroscopy was conducted using a
Horiba Raman system (LabRam HR Evolution) with a laser excitation
wavelength of 532  nm at room temperature. The thicknesses of WSe2
and Ge were characterized using AFM (NX-10/Park Systems). Electrical
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and optical measurements were performed using a semiconductor
parameter analyzer (Keithley 4200A-SCS), a four-channel fiber-coupled
laser (520, 638, and 850 nm MCLS1, Thorlabs), and a separate 1550 nm
laser (LSR1550NL-1W-FC, Civil Laser). To measure the transient
photoresponses, the pulsed optical signal was generated by the function
generator (Tektronix-AFG1022 model), and the resulting photocurrents
were monitored using a 4255-RPM module.
Supporting Information
Supporting Information is available from the Wiley Online Library or
from the author.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Industrial Strategic Technology
Development Program (20000300) funded by the Ministry of
Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE, Korea), and by National R&D
Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF),
funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT (2020M3F3A2A01082593,
2021R1A4A1033155). The EDA tool was supported by the IC Design
Education Center, Korea.
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Data Availability Statement
Research data are not shared.
Keywords
broadbands, heterojunctions, high-speed, ion-implantation,
photodetectors, p-WSe2/n-Ge diodes
Received: August 11, 2021
Revised: September 17, 2021
Published online: October 7, 2021
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