Effects of growth substrates on the morphologies of TiO2 nanowire arrays and the performance of assembled UV detectors

- TiO2 nanowire arrays with different morphologies were synthesized on ITO and FTO.
- Growth mechanism of the TiO2 nanowire arrays (TNAs) was investigated.
- Back-incident array UV detectors based on the two TNAs were assembled.
- Effects of growth substrates on device performance were studied for the first time.
- Detector based on the well-aligned TNAs on FTO exhibits more excellent performance.

TiO2 nanowire arrays (TNAs) with different morphologies were synthesized on transparent conductive tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) and fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO). Back-incident array TNA-based UV detectors were assembled. Effects of growth substrates on the morphologies of TNAs and the performance of UV detectors were investigated for the first time. The device based on the vertically aligned TNAs on FTO (TNFs) exhibited more excellent photoresponse properties than that based on the cluster-shaped TNAs on ITO (TNIs). This phenomenon can be ascribed to the easier and faster electron transport in the single crystallographic orientation TNFs. The outstanding performance also demonstrated the obvious superiority of TNFs in the application of UV detection.