Editing Photodiode (section)

==Materials==
The material used to make a photodiode is critical to defining its properties, because only [[photon]]s with sufficient energy to excite [[electron]]s across the material's [[bandgap]] will produce significant photocurrents.

Materials commonly used to produce photodiodes are listed in the table below.<ref>Held. G, Introduction to Light Emitting Diode Technology and Applications, CRC Press, (Worldwide, 2008). Ch. 5 p. 116. {{ISBN|1-4200-7662-0}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
! Material
! [[Electromagnetic spectrum]]<br />[[wavelength]] range (nm)
|-
| [[Silicon]] || 190–1100
|-
| [[Germanium]] || 400–1700
|-
| [[Indium gallium arsenide]] || 800–2600
|-
| [[Lead(II) sulfide]] || <1000–3500
|-
| [[Mercury cadmium telluride]] || 400–14000
|}

Because of their greater bandgap, silicon-based photodiodes generate less noise than germanium-based photodiodes.

Binary materials, such as MoS<sub>2</sub>, and graphene emerged as new materials for the production of photodiodes.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yin |first1=Zongyou |last2=Li |first2=Hai |last3=Li |first3=Hong |last4=Jiang |first4=Lin |last5=Shi |first5=Yumeng |last6=Sun |first6=Yinghui |last7=Lu |first7=Gang |last8=Zhang |first8=Qing |last9=Chen |first9=Xiaodong |last10=Zhang |first10=Hua |title=Single-Layer MoS Phototransistors |journal=ACS Nano |date=21 December 2011 |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=74–80 |doi=10.1021/nn2024557|pmid=22165908 |arxiv=1310.8066 |s2cid=27038582 }}</ref>