Graphene/InSb heterojunction mid-infrared photodiodes for infrared image sensors exhibit high responsivity, low noise, and excellent detection performance. However, the performance of each pixel varies owing to the instability of the graphene/InSb interface state. In this study, the performance variation was addressed by inserting an interfacial layer at the graphene/InSb interface. A few-nanometer-thick HfO2 interfacial layer was inserted at the graphene/InSb interface. Compared to devices without an interfacial layer, those with an interfacial layer exhibited greatly improved minimum noise equivalent temperature difference (NETD) and pixel-by-pixel NETD variation. This was due to the stabilization of the InSb surface and increased photocurrent caused by photoswitching, which significantly changed the Fermi level of the graphene. The insertion of the HfO2 interfacial layer improved the standard deviation to less than 1/30. Thus, inserting an interfacial layer at the graphene/InSb interface is expected to facilitate the development of high-performance infrared image sensors with low variability.
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