Investigation of Structural and Optical Properties of Zinc Ferrite Nanoparticles for Photodetector Devices

<title>Abstract</title> <p>Zinc ferrite (𝑍𝑛𝐹𝑒2𝑂4) is a mixed metal oxide semiconductor with high chemical stability, low toxicity, and interesting magnetic and optical characteristics. Even though extensive research has been carried out on zinc ferrite due to its applications in photocatalysis, energy storage, and sensing, little interest has been shown in its application as a broadband photodetector for UV-visible light detection. Herein, zinc ferrite nanoparticles synthesized via a simple solvothermal approach were employed as the photoactive material, while silver (Ag) electrodes were deposited onto the active layer by RF magnetron sputtering to fabricate an Ag/ 𝑍𝑛𝐹𝑒2𝑂4/Ag metal–semiconductor–metal (MSM) photodetector. The fabricated device was systematically investigated under short-UV, long-UV, and visible illumination, exhibiting enhanced photodetection performance in the UVA region with a maximum photocurrent and detectivity of 6.23 × 10−6𝐴 and 2.46 × 1010 𝐽𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠 respectively. This comprehensive wavelength-dependent IV study provides new insights into the photoresponse mechanism of 𝑍𝑛𝐹𝑒2𝑂4-based MSM photodetectors and demonstrates the potential of 𝑍𝑛𝐹𝑒2𝑂4 as an efficient photoactive material for next-generation ultraviolet photodetection.</p>