Polarization-sensitive near-infrared photodetectors based on quasi-one-dimensional Sb₂Se₃ nanotubes

In this work, we study the chemical vapor deposition growth of Sb₂Se₃ nanotubes and investigate their novel applications in polarization-sensitive near-infrared photodetectors. The grown Sb₂Se₃ nanotubes present a high crystal quality with an average length of 23.96 µm, an average width of 0.99 µm, and an average height of 315 nm. The fabricated singular Sb₂Se₃ nanotube-based photodetector exhibits a wide spectral response, ranging from visible to near-infrared light regions (400–980 nm), as well as a peak photo-response under the illumination of near-infrared (830 nm) light. At room temperature and standard atmospheric pressure, the Sb₂Se₃ nanotube photodetector presents a large photocurrent on/off ratio of 364, a high responsivity of 4.39 A W⁻¹, a good specific detectivity of 9.63 × 10¹⁰ Jones, and a high external quantum efficiency of 655% under the illumination of 830 nm light. The identified performance can be attributed to intrinsic characteristics of this compound coupled with a highly uniform Sb₂Se₃ nanotube crystalline structure. The Sb₂Se₃ nanotube photodetector also exhibits excellent stability after> 200 photo-switching cycles. Most notably, the Sb₂Se₃ nanotube photodetector presents a large linear dichroic ratio of 3.95 under the illumination of 830 nm light, revealing its great potential in near-infrared polarized photodetection applications.