Extended UV detection bandwidth: H-BN/Al powder nanocomposites photodetectors sensitive in a middle UV region due to localized surface plasmon resonance effect

The development of high-effective photodetectors operating in a wide spectral range is an important technological task. In this work we have demonstrated that the detection bandwidth of h-BN photodetectors in the UV range can be extended due to the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect. Theoretical calculations showed that, among Al, Au, Ag, and Cu, Al is the most suitable metal for the h-BN UV sensible detectors due to the SPR effect in the middle UV range. Based on the theoretical predictions, a simple and highly efficient method for obtaining h-BN/Al nanocomposites for localized SPR-based UV detectors was developed. It was demonstrated that the h-BN/Al material is sensitive to UV radiation with a wavelength of 266 nm that is far away of the detection limit of 240 nm inherent for pure h-BN.