Emerging Schemes for Advancing 2D Material Photoconductive-Type Photodetectors

By virtue of the widely tunable band structure, dangling-bond-free surface, gate electrostatic controllability, excellent flexibility, and high light transmittance, 2D layered materials have shown indisputable application prospects in the field of optoelectronic sensing. However, 2D materials commonly suffer from weak light absorption, limited carrier lifetime, and pronounced interfacial effects, which have led to the necessity for further improvement in the performance of 2D material photodetectors to make them fully competent for the numerous requirements of practical applications. In recent years, researchers have explored multifarious improvement methods for 2D material photodetectors from a variety of perspectives. To promote the further development and innovation of 2D material photodetectors, this review epitomizes the latest research progress in improving the performance of 2D material photodetectors, including improvement in crystalline quality, band engineering, interface passivation, light harvesting enhancement, channel depletion, channel shrinkage, and selective carrier trapping, with the focus on their underlying working mechanisms. In the end, the ongoing challenges in this burgeoning field are underscored, and potential strategies addressing them have been proposed. On the whole, this review sheds light on improving the performance of 2D material photodetectors in the upcoming future.