HKUST-ACE and EDSSC - Flexible Nanowire Photodetectors for Imaging and Communication Applications

The human eye, as one of the most vulnerable organs, is a complex visual system, which processes vision based on the perception of electromagnetic radiation. Flexible image sensors can mimic the function of human eyes, thus realizing many emerging applications, including machine vision, short wave infrared surveillance, and near-infrared medical imaging. Semiconductor nanowires with unique geometric structure, good transparency, and excellent electronic/optoelectronic properties, provide many opportunities and capabilities for the application of flexible image sensors.

In this talk, I will introduce the most recent progress of flexible image sensors with semiconducting nanowires as the sensing elements, mainly focusing on our own work. The basic structure and characteristic parameters of flexible nanowire photodetectors will be first introduced, followed by the strategies to improve their performance, such as using heterostructures or organic-inorganic hybrid nanostructures to substitute single nanowires, using nanowire arrays to get large-area photodetector arrays. The biomimic visual applications of the flexible images will be finally introduced in detail. The talk will then be finished with a perspective on future research directions of this interesting area.