Ultrathin Sb₂Se₃ Nanowires for Polarimetric Imaging Photodetectors with a High Signal/Noise Ratio

This work presents a study on the optical applications of chemical vapor deposition-grown Sb₂Se₃ nanowires in polarized single nanowire photodetectors. High-quality Sb₂Se₃ nanowires are obtained with diameters as small as ≈15 nm, which is the first report for ultrathin Sb₂Se₃ nanowires. The fabricated Sb₂Se₃ nanowire-based photodetector presents a low shot noise of ≈ 9 × 10^–16 A Hz^–1/2, a large signal/noise ratio of 1436.55, a high responsivity of 3.61 A W^–1, and a high specific detectivity of 2.36 × 10¹¹ Jones, which can be attributed to the high-quality crystalline nanowires obtained. More interestingly, the Sb₂Se₃ nanowire-based photodetectors exhibit broadband polarized photoresponse to incident light with wavelengths ranging from visible to near-infrared (532 – 830 nm). A linearly dichroic ratio of 1.71 is obtained for the 830 nm light illumination. The Sb₂Se₃ nanowire detectors also present appropriate polarimetric imaging quality, revealing the potential of Sb₂Se₃ nanowires for polarimetric imaging applications.