Effects of variations in precursor concentration on the growth of rutile TiO2 nanorods on Si substrate with fabricated fast-response metal–semiconductor–metal UV detector

•Investigate the effects of TiCl3 solution concentration on the rutile TiO2 growth.•High-quality rutile TiO2 nanorods were grown on Si substrate by low cost method.•The concentration of TiCl3 solution of 4 mM exhibited the optimal properties.•The optimal properties were chosen to fabricate a fast-response MSM UV detector.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of variations in precursor concentration (TiCl3 solution) on the structural, morphological, and optical properties of rutile titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanorods and fabricated metal–semiconductor–metal UV detector depending on the optimal sample. The nanorods were prepared from an aqueous solution of titanium (III) chloride (TiCl3) on p-type, (1 1 1)-oriented Si substrates at different concentrations of TiCl3 solutions (2, 3, 4, and 5 mM). The experimental results showed that the TiO2 nanorods grown at 4 mM concentration exhibited optimal structural properties. A fast-response metal–semiconductor–metal UV detector was fabricated by depositing Pt contacts on the front of the optimal sample via RF reactive magnetron sputtering. Upon exposure to 365 nm light (2.3 mW/cm2) at 5 V bias voltage, the device showed 44.4 sensitivity. In addition, the internal gain was 1.45, and the photoresponse peak was 70 mA/W. The response and the recovery times were calculated to be 7.8 ms upon illumination to a pulse UV light (365 nm) at 5 V bias voltage.

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