Seamless lateral graphene p–n junctions formed by selective in situ doping for high-performance photodetectors

Lateral graphene p-n junctions are important since they constitute the core components in a variety of electronic/photonic systems. However, formation of lateral graphene p-n junctions with a controllable doping levels is still a great challenge due to the monolayer feature of graphene. Herein, by performing selective ion implantation and in situ growth by dynamic chemical vapor deposition, direct formation of seamless lateral graphene p-n junctions with spatial control and tunable doping is demonstrated. Uniform lattice substitution with heteroatoms is achieved in both the boron-doped and nitrogen-doped regions and photoelectrical assessment reveals that the seamless lateral p-n junctions exhibit a distinct photocurrent response under ambient conditions. As ion implantation is a standard technique in microelectronics, our study suggests a simple and effective strategy for mass production of graphene p-n junctions with batch capability and spatial controllability, which can be readily integrated into the production of graphene-based electronics and photonics.