Executive Summary : | The proposal aims to synthesize two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) and fabricate devices for their applications in photodetectors (PDs) and biosensors. TMDCs have extraordinary features such as ultrathin structure, tuneable finite bandgap, easy exfoliation, absence of dangling bonds, high carrier mobility, and strong light-matter interaction. They are crucial for futuristic electronic and optoelectronic devices like broadband PDs, solar cells, LEDs, ultrafast lasers, and memory devices. Conventional NIR PDs are mainly fabricated using InGaAs alloys, Si, and Ge and their heterojunctions. Si-based PDs can't detect above NIR wavelengths due to the indirect bandgap of 1.1 eV, and their brittle and opaque nature restricts application in wearable, flexible devices. Traditional MIR PDs made of heavy metal alloys, quantum superlattices, and heterojunction suffer from complex growth processes, long-term instability, and toxicities. New 2D materials are ideal candidates for broadband and ultrafast NIR and MIR PDs due to their outstanding optoelectronic properties and the formation of atomically thin heterostructures without lattice mismatch and absence of dangling bonds. The newly discovered group 10 2D materials (e.g., PtX₂, X= Se, S, Te) show non-zero bandgap (0.25 to 1.2 eV) and are perfect for NIR and MIR PD applications. However, the reported low responsivity of PtSe₂ PDs is not comparable to other TMDC photodetectors. The prime target of this NPDF project proposal is to explore a facile strategy to grow and improve the photoresponsivity of 2D Pt-based chalcogenides such as PtSe₂ via the formation of an array of interconnected PDs. |