Enhancement of Reduced Graphene Oxide Bolometric Photoresponse via Addition of Graphene Quantum Dots

Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) has attracted interest in its potential application in large area photodetectors owing to its ease of manufacture and wideband optical absorbance. Here, we report that thin rGO films produced via vacuum filtration of GO followed by reduction by immersion in L-ascorbic acid are capable of sensing light through a bolometric mechanism. The photoresponse of these rGO thin films can be further enhanced by dropcasting graphene quantum dots (GQDs) on the rGO surface. These GQDs were observed to increase the opacity of the rGO film and hence its absorptivity of light, thereby enabling a significant increase in the photoresponse of the device.