Modular and Cost-effective Scanning Photocurrent Microscopy System for Sub-micron characterization of 2D optoelectronic devices
Abstract
Scanning photocurrent microscopy (SPCM) is a powerful technique for probing local optoelectronic phenomena in 2D semiconducting devices. However, commercial setups remain costly, complex and often lack flexibility and adaptability. In this work, we present a home-built SPCM platform built around the retrofitting of a conventional metallographic microscope by coupling it with different light sources (single-mode fiber-coupled lasers and multimode fiber-coupled high-power LEDs), a motorized XY stage, a digital camera and an electronic readout module. This system enables simultaneous acquisition of photocurrent and reflection intensity maps, requiring minimal modifications of the microscope. We reached sub-micron spatial resolution and high imaging fidelity by correlating photocurrent maps with reflection maps, optical micrographs and AFM topography data on different devices fabricated with different materials (InSe, MoS2, WSe2, Gr), on different substrates (Si/SiO2, compact disk). This work provides a reliable, accessible and reproducible high-performance SPCM platform that can be easily implemented in most laboratories for microscale optoelectronic characterization of 2D devices.
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BibTeX
@misc{jimenezarevalo2026modular,
title = {{Modular and Cost-effective Scanning Photocurrent Microscopy System for Sub-micron characterization of 2D optoelectronic devices}},
author = {Nuria Jiménez-Arévalo and Dan Zheng and Yong Xie and Peng Cheng and Yi Liu and Rafael Luque Merino and Haiwen Yu and Tao Wang and Riccardo Frisenda and Andres Castellanos-Gomez and Qinghua Zhao},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.07321},
eprint = {2609.07321},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.07321},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Modular and Cost-effective Scanning Photocurrent Microscopy System for Sub-micron characterization of 2D optoelectronic devices
AU - Nuria Jiménez-Arévalo
AU - Dan Zheng
AU - Yong Xie
AU - Peng Cheng
AU - Yi Liu
AU - Rafael Luque Merino
AU - Haiwen Yu
AU - Tao Wang
AU - Riccardo Frisenda
AU - Andres Castellanos-Gomez
AU - Qinghua Zhao
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/07
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.07321
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.07321
AB - Scanning photocurrent microscopy (SPCM) is a powerful technique for probing local optoelectronic phenomena in 2D semiconducting devices. However, commercial setups remain costly, complex and often lack flexibility and adaptability. In this work, we present a home-built SPCM platform built around the retrofitting of a conventional metallographic microscope by coupling it with different light sources (single-mode fiber-coupled lasers and multimode fiber-coupled high-power LEDs), a motorized XY stage, a digital camera and an electronic readout module. This system enables simultaneous acquisition of photocurrent and reflection intensity maps, requiring minimal modifications of the microscope. We reached sub-micron spatial resolution and high imaging fidelity by correlating photocurrent maps with reflection maps, optical micrographs and AFM topography data on different devices fabricated with different materials (InSe, MoS2, WSe2, Gr), on different substrates (Si/SiO2, compact disk). This work provides a reliable, accessible and reproducible high-performance SPCM platform that can be easily implemented in most laboratories for microscale optoelectronic characterization of 2D devices.
ER -