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A universal strategy for narrowband organic photodetectors enabling arbitrary narrow spectrum detection

一种实现任意窄带光谱检测的有机光电探测器通用策略

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Abstract

Narrowband photodetectors (PDs) with remarkable comprehensive performance are extensively in demand in critical applications such as spectrometers, light detection and ranging (LiDAR), optical communication, and surveillance. Despite the fact that silicon-based narrowband PDs currently predominate the market, their inherent rigidity, fixed band limitations, and bulky sizes significantly impede their applications in emerging fields, particularly in flexible and wearable optoelectronics. In this work, a facile and universal solution-processed strategy is presented to fabricate narrowband organic PDs (OPDs) that can detect arbitrary narrow spectra, which is realized by introducing an independent organic optical adjusting layer (OAL) comprising the same donor and acceptor within the photoactive film of OPD. With this strategy, we successfully fabricate a narrowband OPD centered at 750 nm, with a full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of 40 nm, spectral responsivity ratio of 3667, and −3 dB cutoff frequency of 927 kHz, as recorded in self-powered narrowband OPDs. Notably, this novel OAL strategy shows outstanding universality across all OPDs for detecting arbitrary narrow spectra in the range of 600–1000 nm with tunable FWHMs (minimum narrowing step of 2 nm), high responsivity and detectivity, and fast response speed. Benefiting from the inherent flexibility of organic semiconductors, we fabricate a flexible and bendable narrowband near-infrared OPD linear array for omnidirectional LiDAR, realizing a 360° horizontal scan without mechanical rotation.

摘要

窄带光电探测器因其优异的综合性能, 在光谱仪、激光雷达、光通信和监控等关键应用领域广受欢迎. 尽管窄带硅基探测器在当前市场上占据主导地位, 但其本征刚性、光学带隙固定和尺寸大的特性极大地限制了其在新兴领域的应用, 尤其是在柔性和可穿戴光电子领域. 在本工作中, 我们报道了一种构筑窄带有机光电探测器(OPD)的简单通用策略. 该策略通过溶液法将活性层中的给体和受体材料制备成光学调制层(OAL), 并集成在OPD上, 可实现对任意光谱的检测. 利用该策略, 我们成功地构筑了以750 nm为中心的窄带OPD, 其半峰宽(FWHM)为40 nm, 光谱响应率为3667, −3 dB截止频率为927 kHz, 打破了自驱动窄带OPD的性能记录. 值得注意的是, 这种新颖的OAL策略在OPD中具有良好的通用性, 可以实现对600至1000 nm范围内的任意窄光谱检测, 具有FWHM可调(最小步长为2 nm)、响应度和探测率高、响应速度快的优势. 受益于有机半导体固有的柔性特性, 我们构筑了一种柔性且可弯曲的窄带近红外OPD线性阵列, 并应用于全向激光雷达上, 在无需机械旋转的情况下实现了360°水平扫描.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2022YFA1203304), the Minstry of Science and Technology of China (2022YFB4200400 and 2019YFA0705900), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21935007 and 52025033).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Centre of Nanoscale Science and Technology and Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, Institute of Polymer Chemistry, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, College of Chemistry, and Renewable Energy Conversion and Storage Center (RECAST), Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China

    Yu Zhu  (朱玉), Hao Qin  (秦灏), Tingting Guo  (郭婷婷), Yanqing Yang  (杨艳青), Zhe Zhang  (张哲), Jing Zhang  (张京), Mingpeng Li  (李明朋), Hongbin Chen  (陈红滨), Simin Wu  (吴思敏), Ruiman Han  (韩蕊蔓), Xiangjian Wan  (万相见), Guanghui Li  (李光辉) & Yongsheng Chen  (陈永胜)

  2. State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China

    Yongsheng Chen  (陈永胜)

Authors
  1. Yu Zhu  (朱玉)
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  2. Hao Qin  (秦灏)
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  3. Tingting Guo  (郭婷婷)
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  4. Yanqing Yang  (杨艳青)
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  5. Zhe Zhang  (张哲)
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  6. Jing Zhang  (张京)
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  7. Mingpeng Li  (李明朋)
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  8. Hongbin Chen  (陈红滨)
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  9. Simin Wu  (吴思敏)
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  10. Ruiman Han  (韩蕊蔓)
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  11. Xiangjian Wan  (万相见)
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  12. Guanghui Li  (李光辉)
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  13. Yongsheng Chen  (陈永胜)
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Contributions

Author contributions Chen Y and Li G conceived and designed the project. Zhu Y fabricated the narrowband photodetector and carried out all of the performance studies. The manuscript was mainly written by Chen Y, Li G, and Zhu Y. All authors contributed in the general discussion.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Guanghui Li  (李光辉) or Yongsheng Chen  (陈永胜).

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Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Supplementary information Experimental details and supporting data are available in the online version of the paper.

Yu Zhu received his Bachelor degree from Lanzhou University in 2019. He is currently a PhD candidate at Nankai University. His research mainly focuses on the design and fabrication of photodetectors.

Guanghui Li received his PhD degree in chemical and environmental engineering from the University of California, Riverside in 2018. Currently, he is an associate professor of chemistry at Nankai University. His research interests primarily focus on nanomaterials and organic functional materials for photosensors.

Yongsheng Chen received his PhD degree in chemistry from the University of Victoria in 1997. From 2003, he has been a chair professor at Nankai University. His main research interests focus on carbon-based nanomaterials and organic functional materials for green energy applications.

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Zhu, Y., Qin, H., Guo, T. et al. A universal strategy for narrowband organic photodetectors enabling arbitrary narrow spectrum detection. Sci. China Mater. 67, 852–862 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-023-2749-3

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