Graphene is regarded as a potential surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrate. However, the application of graphene quantum dots (GQDs) has had limited success due to material quality. Here, we develop a quasi-equilibrium plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition method to produce high-quality ultra-clean GQDs with sizes down to 2 nm directly on SiO₂/Si, which are used as SERS substrates. The enhancement factor, which depends on the GQD size, is higher than conventional graphene sheets with sensitivity down to 1 × 10⁻⁹ mol L⁻¹ rhodamine. This is attributed to the high-quality GQDs with atomically clean surfaces and large number of edges, as well as the enhanced charge transfer between molecules and GQDs with appropriate diameters due to the existence of Van Hove singularities in the electronic density of states. This work demonstrates a sensitive SERS substrate, and is valuable for applications of GQDs in graphene-based photonics and optoelectronics.

PdTe ₂ -based photodetectors reveal anisotropic and highly efficient intraband photocurrents at long wavelength.

Graphene has been highly sought after as a potential candidate for hot-electron terahertz (THz) detection benefiting from its strong photon absorption, fast carrier relaxation, and weak electron-phonon coupling. Nevertheless, to date, graphene-based thermoelectric THz photodetection is hindered by low responsivity owing to relatively low photoelectric efficiency. In this work, we provide a straightforward strategy for enhanced THz detection based on antenna-coupled CVD graphene transistors with the introduction of symmetric paired fingers. This design enables switchable photodetection modes by controlling the interaction between the THz field and free hot carriers in the graphene-channel through different contacting configurations. Hence a novel “bias-field effect” can be activated, which leads to a drastic enhancement in THz detection ability with maximum responsivity of up to 280 V/W at 0.12 THz relative to the antenna area and a Johnson-noise limited minimum noise-equivalent power (NEP) of 100 pW/Hz^0.5 at room temperature. The mechanism responsible for the enhancement in the photoelectric gain is attributed to thermophotovoltaic instead of plasma self-mixing effects. Our results offer a promising alternative route toward scalable, wafer-level production of high-performance graphene detectors.

Ge heteroepitaxy on Si (1 1 10) substrates induces the formation of prism-shaped in-plane nanowires bounded with $\left\{105\right\}$ facets. In this work, in-plane nanowires were fabricated via the growth of Ge onto rib-patterned Si (1 1 10) templates oriented in the $\left[55\overline{1}\right]$ direction. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) reveals that a self-elongation of the nanowires occurs, resembling the phenomena observed on rib-patterned Si (0 0 1) templates, which indicates that this is a universal effect for nanowires grown on rib patterns. Finite-element simulations, performed with input from the latest ab initio calculations, reveal that the mechanism behind these phenomena is the minimization of the total energy density of the epilayer under rib-dominated geometry. Ge surface diffusion leads to a broadening of the Ge nanowires at the rib shoulder sites, which is proved to be an effective route to reduce the total energy density. Our results provide a straightforward solution for the realization of a single or a few Ge nanowires for potential device applications.

A photodetector based on a hybrid dimensional heterostructure of laterally aligned multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and multilayered MoS₂ was prepared using the micro-nano fixed-point transfer technique. Thanks to the high mobility of carbon nanotubes and the efficient interband absorption of MoS₂, broadband detection from visible to near-infrared (520–1060 nm) was achieved. The test results demonstrate that the MWCNT-MoS2 heterostructure-based photodetector device exhibits an exceptional responsivity, detectivity, and external quantum efficiency. Specifically, the device demonstrated a responsivity of 3.67 × 10³ A/W (λ = 520 nm, V_ds = 1 V) and 718 A/W (λ = 1060 nm, V_ds = 1 V). Moreover, the detectivity (D*) of the device was found to be 1.2 × 10¹⁰ Jones (λ = 520 nm) and 1.5 × 10⁹ Jones (λ = 1060 nm), respectively. The device also demonstrated external quantum efficiency (EQE) values of approximately 8.77 × 10⁵% (λ = 520 nm) and 8.41 × 10⁴% (λ = 1060 nm). This work achieves visible and infrared detection based on mixed-dimensional heterostructures and provides a new option for optoelectronic devices based on low-dimensional materials.