Recent progress in mid-infrared photodetection devices using 2D/nD (n=0, 1, 2, 3) heterostructures

Abstract

Mid-infrared (MIR) photodetection plays an important role in a variety of modern technologies, such as biomedical devices, free-space communication and security. In the past decade, 2D materials and heterostructures have been widely utilized in MIR photodetectors because of the tunable bandgaps, high carrier mobility and strong light absorption. Apart from 2D/2D heterostructures, 2D material can also form mixed-dimensional heterostructures with other dimensional materials thanks to the interlayer van der Waals forces, which presents a much broader group and greatly expands the research of MIR photodetectors due to the synergistic advantages. In this review, the recent progress of MIR photodetectors based on van der Waals (vdWs) heterostructures, including all-2D and mixed-dimensional heterostructures is systematically summarized. First, the common synthesis strategies to realize vdWs heterostructures are presented. Then, the motivation, device design, mechanism and performance of MIR photodetectors are presented and discussed in classification of various kinds of vdWs heterostructures. Finally, the current challenges and some future prospects in this research field are suggested.