Defects Enable High-Performance Infrared Photodetectors

There has been an urgent need in consumer electronics for infrared optoelectronics including light emitting diodes and photodetectors. To date, however, infrared optoelectronics are served by costly CMOS-incompatible III-V semiconductors. Recently, a new class of semiconductors that addresses the CMOS compatibility issue has emerged based on colloidal quantum dots. When it comes to consumer electronics, the use of RoHS-compliant materials is a prerequisite and therefore there is a strong need for the development of high-performance devices based on environmentally friendly elements — something that in the infrared had remained elusive.