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In the present study, high-sensitivity photodetection has been demonstrated using an amorphous selenium (a-Se) based photodetector driven by nitrogen-doped diamond cold cathode. The emission current – applied voltage characteristics are compared between different lighting conditions, and their sensitivities are evaluated in terms of nominal quantum efficiency. The estimated nominal quantum efficiency was 10–40 for visible and up to 1000 for ultraviolet, proving a successful photodetection utilizing carrier multiplication in a-Se.

Although present imaging devices are mostly silicon-based devices such as CMOS and CCD, these devices are reaching their sensitivity limit due to the band gap of silicon. Amorphous selenium (a-Se) is a promising candidate for high- sensitivity photo imaging devices, because of its low thermal noise, high spatial resolution, as well as adaptability to wide-area deposition. In addition, internal signal amplification is reported on a-Se based photodetectors, which enables a photodetector having effective quantum efficiency over 100 % against visible light. Since a-Se has sensitivity to UV and soft X-rays, the reported internal signal amplification should be applicable to UV and X-ray detection. However, application of the internal signal amplification required high voltage, which caused unexpected breakdown at the contact or thin-film transistor-based signal read-out. For this reason, vacuum devices having electron-beam read-out is proposed. The advantages of vacuum-type devices are vacuum insulation and its extremely low dark current. In this study, we present recent progresses in developing a-Se based photoconductive films and photodetector using nitrogen-doped diamond electron beam source as signal read-out. A novel electrochemical method is used to dope impurities into a-Se, turning the material from weak p-type to n-type. A p-n junction is formed within a-Se photoconductive film, which has increased the sensitivity of a-Se based photodetector. Our result suggests a possibility of high sensitivity photodetector that can potentially break the limit of silicon-based devices.

An attempt was made to fabricate diamond field emitter array that can utilize negative electron affinity. Nitrogen-doped polycrystalline diamond was shaped into flat-topped pyramids by using mold-growth method. Field emission property of the fabricated diamond FEA was evaluated using I–V characteristic.

An attempt has been made to utilize uniquely high electron mobility of graphene on hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) to electron emitter. The field emission property of graphene/h-BN/Si structure has shown enhanced threshold voltage and emission current, both of which are key to develop novel vacuum nanoelectronics devices. The field emission property was discussed along with the electronic structure of graphene investigated by Fowler-Nordheim plot and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy. The result suggested that transferring graphene on h-BN modified its work function, which changed field emission mechanism. Our report opens up a possibility of graphene-based vacuum nanoelectronics devices with tuned work function.