Ion irradiation of reduced graphene oxide for near-infrared photodetector applications

Due to rapid technological advancements, NIR photodetectors are utilized in various domains, including tracking brain activity, heartbeats, night vision, deep tissue imaging, smart wearables, enabling fast internet, monitoring the planet from space, and other similar applications. In recent years, graphene and its derivatives, such as reduced graphene oxide (RGO), have been considered a good choice due to defect-state transitions and tunability. In this work, we report for the first time the photodetection efficiency in an optical sensor through ion beam exposure of pristine RGO films. Ion irradiation induces structural changes and tunes the photoresponse of the RGO films. Here, 100 MeV Ni-irradiated RGO films show the highest photoresponse with optimal fluences in the range 1 × 10¹¹ to 5 × 10¹¹ ions/cm². This work highlights the potential of ion irradiation as a versatile tool for modifying 2-D material properties, with significant implications for RGO-based photodetectors, optoelectronic devices, and sensors, and paves the way for future research in this field, enabling the development of high-performance devices.