Point defect improved photogalvanic effect in the photodetector based on the BC ₆ P monolayer

As a typical nonlinear optical phenomenon, photogalvanic effect (PGE) offers a unique physical pathway for photon-generated carrier separation in non-centrosymmetric materials, thereby demonstrating significant application prospects in low-power two-dimensional optoelectronics. This paper employs theoretical simulations to investigate the PGE in two double-probe photodetectors arranged along the armchair and zigzag directions based on a graphene-like BC 6 P monolayer, and studied photocurrents in these devices which comprising the pristine structure and twelve point defect variants, respectively. Quantum transport simulations based on non-equilibrium Green's functions reveal that point defects significantly enhance the photocurrents induced by PGE, primarily due to symmetry breaking. Especially, vacancy-C 1 defect in the armchair configuration and the B-doping(C) defect in the zigzag configuration exhibit the most pronounced effects in the ultraviolet range, with the latter achieving a 30.6 [Formula: see text]/photon photocurrent higher than those in many other photodetectors. The values of photocurrents are all within the range of experimental detection, confirming the application potentials of this special BC 6 P monolayer in optoelectronic devices, and also provides a theoretical basis on developing novel ultraviolet light photodetectors.