A highly sensitive, highly transparent, gel-gated MoS2 phototransistor on biodegradable nanopaper

Abstract

Transition metal dichalcogenides hold great promise for a variety of novel electrical, optical and mechanical devices and applications. Among them, molybdenum disulphide (MoS₂) is gaining increasing attention as gate dielectrics and semiconductive channels for high-performance field effect transistors. Here we report on the first MoS₂ phototransistor built on a flexible, transparent and biodegradable substrate with an electrolyte gate dielectric. We have carried out systematic studies on its electrical and optoelectronic properties. The MoS₂ phototransistor exhibited an excellent photoresponsivity of ∼1.5 kA W⁻¹, about two times higher compared to typical back-gated devices reported in previous studies. The device is highly transparent at the same time with an average optical transmittance of 82%. Successful fabrication of phototransistors on flexible cellulose nanopaper with excellent performance and transparency suggests that it is feasible to achieve an ecofriendly and biodegradable phototransistor with great photoresponsivity, broad spectral range and durable flexibility.