ZnSn(OH)6 nanocube/ Zn2SnO4 nanowires yolk–shell hierarchical structure with tunable band gap for deep-UV photodetection

Ternary oxides nanomaterials (TONs) are the mostly investigated as a promising candidate for ultraviolet detection due to its excellent photoconductivity. Among them, Zn2SnO4 (ZTO) has received extensive attention, but its advantages cannot be utilized in deep-ultraviolet (DUV) detection due to band gap limitation. Herein, we synthesized ZnSn(OH)6 nanocube/ ZTO nanowires yolk–shell hierarchical structure with tunable band gap between 3.6 and 4.4 eV by the dual laser ablation in liquid plus hydrothermal method. This hierarchical structure is applied to DUV photodetection and the results showed that it could improve the Ilight/ Idark ratio of ZTO DUV photodetection by two orders of magnitude while retaining the advantage of ZTO’s rapid response time (τrise=0.43 ms, τdecay=0.55 ms). Moreover, deep-UV imaging is also realized based on this material. This approach provides a new way of tuning the TONs’ band gap and its application to DUV photodetection or imaging.