Aligned selenium microtubes array: Synthesis, growth mechanism and photoelectrical properties

Aligned selenium microtubes array vertically grown on a silicon substrate was synthesized in a tubular furnace under argon flow at an evaporation temperature of 300 °C. The microtubes were characterized by Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, UV–vis spectroscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The photoelectrical properties of the microtube array with light were investigated. It was found a stable relative increase of the conductivity by 180% when the sample was taken from the dark and exposed with tungsten light and a sharp on/off switching behavior. These results hold promise for the fabrication of microtubes-detector arrays.