Metal Dopants Increase THz-Photoconductivity in g-C3N4

Metal-doped graphitic carbon nitride has shown promise in the field of photocatalysis due to its increased efficiency over its pure form. In this work, we show that Cu doping g-C3N4 does not perturb the structure of the materials and extends the visible light absorption. Ultrafast THz-photoconductivity of carbon nitride is enhanced due to the addition of metal dopant. A Cu dopant creates a very fast photoconductivity component (727 fs) in the optical pump terahertz probe (OPTP) trace. We also studied the influence of film preparation which can create a long lifetime (~100 ps) component in the photoconductivity.