Enhancing photoresponse time of low cost Pd/ZnO nanorods prepared by thermal evaporation techniques for UV detection

► High quality undoped ZnO nanorods have been synthesized at 850 °C by vapor-solid (VS) technique without a catalyst through a low cost process on silicon substrates. ► Metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodetectors with palladium (Pd) as contact electrodes have been successfully constructed for ultraviolet (UV) detection. ► It was found that the maximum responsivity of the Pd/ZnO MSM photodetector was 0.106 A/W which corresponds to a quantum efficiency of 43.8% at 5 V applied bias voltage.