skip to main content


Title: Towards Infrared Electronic Eyes: Flexible Colloidal Quantum Dot Photovoltaic Detectors Enhanced by Resonant Cavity
Abstract

Electronic eye cameras are receiving increasing interest due to their unique advantages such as wide field of view, low aberrations, and simple imaging optics compared to conventional planar focal plane arrays. However, the spectral sensing ranges of most electronic eyes are confined to the visible, which is limited by the energy gaps of the sensing materials and by fabrication obstacles. Here, a potential route leading to infrared electronic eyes is demonstrated by exploring flexible colloidal quantum dot (CQD) photovoltaic detectors. Benefitting from their tunable optical response and the ease of fabrication as solution processable materials, mercury telluride (HgTe) CQD detectors with mechanical flexibility, wide spectral sensing range, fast response, and high detectivity are demonstrated. A strategy is provided to further enhance the light absorption in flexible detectors by integrating a Fabry–Perot resonant cavity. Integrated short‐wave IR detectors on flexible substrates have peakD*of 7.5 × 1010Jones at 2.2 µm at room temperature and promise the development of infrared electronic eyes with high‐resolution imaging capability. Finally, infrared images are captured with the flexible CQD detectors at varying bending conditions, showing a practical approach to sensitive infrared electronic eyes beyond the visible range.

 
more » « less
NSF-PAR ID:
10461864
Author(s) / Creator(s):
 ;  ;  ;  
Publisher / Repository:
Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Small
Volume:
15
Issue:
12
ISSN:
1613-6810
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. Abstract

    In recent years, the excitation of surface phonon polaritons (SPhPs) in van der Waals materials received wide attention from the nanophotonics community. Alpha-phase Molybdenum trioxide (α-MoO3), a naturally occurring biaxial hyperbolic crystal, emerged as a promising polaritonic material due to its ability to support SPhPs for three orthogonal directions at different wavelength bands (range 10–20μm). Here, we report on the fabrication, structural, morphological, and optical IR characterization of large-area (over 1 cm2size)α-MoO3polycrystalline film deposited on fused silica substrates by pulsed laser deposition. Due to the random grain distribution, the thin film does not display any optical anisotropy at normal incidence. However, the proposed fabrication method allows us to achieve a singleα-phase, preserving the typical strong dispersion related to the phononic response ofα-MoO3flakes. Remarkable spectral properties of interest for IR photonics applications are reported. For instance, a polarization-tunable reflection peak at 1006 cm−1with a dynamic range of ΔR= 0.3 and a resonanceQ-factor as high as 53 is observed at 45° angle of incidence. Additionally, we report the fulfillment of an impedance matching condition with the SiO2substrate leading to a polarization-independent almost perfect absorption condition (R< 0.01) at 972 cm−1which is maintained for a broad angle of incidence. In this framework our findings appear extremely promising for the further development of mid-IR lithography-free, scalable films, for efficient and large-scale sensors, filters, thermal emitters, and label-free biochemical sensing devices operating in the free space, using far-field detection setups.

     
    more » « less
  2. Colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) provide wide spectral tunability and high absorption coefficients owing to quantum confinement and large oscillator strengths, which along with solution processability, allow a facile, low-cost, and room-temperature deposition technique for the fabrication of photonic devices. However, many solution-processed CQD photodetector devices demonstrate low specific-detectivity and slow temporal response. To achieve improved photodetector characteristics, limiting carrier recombination and enhancing photogenerated carrier separation are crucial. In this study, we develop and present an alternate vertical-stack photodetector wherein we use a solution-processed quantum dot photoconversion layer coupled to an amorphous selenium (a-Se) wide-bandgap charge transport layer that is capable of exhibiting single-carrier hole impact ionization and is compatible with active-matrix readout circuitry. This a-Se chalcogenide transport layer enables the fabrication of high-performance and reliable solution-processed quantum dot photodetectors, with enhanced charge extraction capabilities, high specific detectivity (D* ∼ 0.5–5 × 1012 Jones), fast 3 dB electrical bandwidth (3 dB BW ∼ 22 MHz), low dark current density (JD ∼ 5–10 pA/cm2), low noise current (in ∼ 20–25 fW/Hz1/2), and high linear dynamic range (LDR ∼ 130–150 dB) across the measured visible electromagnetic spectrum (∼405–656 nm). 
    more » « less
  3. Abstract

    There remains a critical need for large‐area imaging technologies that operate in the shortwave infrared spectral region. Upconversion imagers that combine photo‐sensing and display in a compact structure are attractive since they avoid the costly and complex process of pixilation. However, upconversion device research is primarily focused on the optical output, while electronic signals from the imager remain underutilized. Here, an organic upconversion imager that is efficient in both optical and electronic readouts, extending the capability of human and machine vision to 1400 nm, is designed and demonstrated. The imager structure incorporates interfacial layers to suppress non‐radiative recombination and provide enhanced optical upconversion efficiency and electronic detectivity. The photoresponse is comparable to state‐of‐the‐art organic infrared photodiodes exhibiting a high external quantum efficiency of ≤35% at a low bias of ≤3 V and 3 dB bandwidth of 10 kHz. The large active area of 2 cm2enables demonstrations such as object inspection, imaging through smog, and concurrent recording of blood vessel location and blood flow pulses. These examples showcase the potential of the authors’ dual‐readout imager to directly upconvert infrared light for human visual perception and simultaneously yield electronic signals for automated monitoring applications.

     
    more » « less
  4. Abstract

    Rapidly controlling and switching adhesion is necessary for applications in robotic gripping and locomotion, pick and place operations, and transfer printing. However, switchable adhesives often display a binary response (on or off) with a narrow adhesion range, lack post‐fabrication adhesion tunability, or switch slowly due to diffusion‐controlled processes. Here, pneumatically controlled shape and rigidity tuning is coupled to rapidly switch adhesion (≈0.1 s) across a wide range of programmable adhesion forces with measured switching ratios as high as 1300x. The switchable adhesion system introduces an active polydimethylsiloxane membrane supported on a compliant, foam foundation with pressure‐tunable rigidity where positive and negative pneumatic pressure synergistically control contact stiffness and geometry to activate and release adhesion. Energy‐based modeling and finite element computation demonstrate that high adhesion is achieved through a pressure‐dependent, nonlinear stiffness of the foundation, while an inflated shape at positive pressures enables easy release. This approach enables adhesion‐based gripping and material assembly, which is utilized to pick‐and‐release common objects, rough and porous materials, and arrays of elements with a greater than 14 000xrange in mass. The robust assembly of diverse components (rigid, soft, flexible) is then demonstrated to create a soft and stretchable electronic device.

     
    more » « less
  5. Abstract

    Tunable metal–insulator–metal (MIM) Fabry–Pérot (FP) cavities that can dynamically control light enable novel sensing, imaging and display applications. However, the realization of dynamic cavities incorporating stimuli‐responsive materials poses a significant engineering challenge. Current approaches rely on refractive index modulation and suffer from low dynamic tunability, high losses, and limited spectral ranges, and require liquid and hazardous materials for operation. To overcome these challenges, a new tuning mechanism employing reversible mechanical adaptations of a polymer network is proposed, and dynamic tuning of optical resonances is demonstrated. Solid‐state temperature‐responsive optical coatings are developed by preparing a monodomain nematic liquid crystalline network (LCN) and are incorporated between metallic mirrors to form active optical microcavities. LCN microcavities offer large, reversible and highly linear spectral tuning of FP resonances reaching wavelength‐shifts up to 40 nm via thermomechanical actuation while featuring outstanding repeatability and precision over more than 100 heating–cooling cycles. This degree of tunability allows for reversible switching between the reflective and the absorbing states of the device over the entire visible and near‐infrared spectral regions, reaching large changes in reflectance with modulation efficiency ΔR = 79%.

     
    more » « less