New-generation infrared detectors call for higher operation temperature and polarization sensitivity. For traditional HgCdTe infrared detectors, the additional polarization optics and cryogenic cooling are necessary to achieve high-performance infrared polarization detection, while they can complicate this system and limit the integration. Here, a mixed-dimensional HgCdTe/black phosphorous van der Waals heterojunction photodiode is proposed for polarization-sensitive midwave infrared photodetection. Benefiting from van der Waals integration, type III broken-gap band alignment heterojunctions are achieved. Anisotropy optical properties of black phosphorous bring polarization sensitivity from visible light to midwave infrared without external optics. Our devices show an outstanding performance at room temperature without applied bias, with peak blackbody detectivity as high as 7.93 × 10 ¹⁰ cm Hz ^1/2 W ⁻¹ and average blackbody detectivity over 2.1 × 10 ¹⁰ cm Hz ^1/2 W ⁻¹ in midwave infrared region. This strategy offers a possible practical solution for next-generation infrared detector with high operation temperature, high performance, and multi-information acquisition.

Ferroelectric materials have shown great value in the modern semiconductor industry and are considered important function materials due to their high dielectric constant and tunable spontaneous polarization. A ferroelectric field effect transistor (FeFET) is a field effect transistor (FET) with ferroelectric polarization field introduced to regulate carriers in semiconductors. With the coupling of ferroelectric and semiconductor, FeFETs are attractive for advanced electronic and optoelectronic applications, including emerging memories, artificial neural networks, high-performance photodetectors, and smart sensors. In this review, representative research results of FeFETs are reviewed from the perspective of structures and applications. Here, the background and significance of ferroelectrics and FeFETs are given. Furthermore, methods of building FeFETs in different structures and physical models describing the characteristics of FeFET are introduced. Important applications of FeFETs in electronics and optoelectronics are presented, with a comparison of performance between FeFETs and FETs without ferroelectrics, including memories and memristive devices, photodetectors, negative capacitance FETs, sensors, and multifunctional devices. Finally, based on the above discussions, promising applications and challenges of FeFETs are summarized.

Cu₂ZnSnS₄ (CZTS) thin films with fine control over composition and pure phase were fabricated by sulfurization of co-electroplated Cu–Zn–Sn–S precursors.

Wearable electronic sensing devices are deemed to be a crucial technology of smart personal electronics. Strain and pressure sensors, one of the most popular research directions in recent years, are the key components of smart and flexible electronics. Graphene, as an advanced nanomaterial, exerts pre-eminent characteristics including high electrical conductivity, excellent mechanical properties, and flexibility. The above advantages of graphene provide great potential for applications in mechatronics, robotics, automation, human-machine interaction, etc.: graphene with diverse structures and leverages, strain and pressure sensors with new functionalities. Herein, the recent progress in graphene-based strain and pressure sensors is presented. The sensing materials are classified into four structures including 0D fullerene, 1D fiber, 2D film, and 3D porous structures. Different structures of graphene-based strain and pressure sensors provide various properties and multifunctions in crucial parameters such as sensitivity, linearity, and hysteresis. The recent and potential applications for graphene-based sensors are also discussed, especially in the field of human motion detection. Finally, the perspectives of graphene-based strain and pressure sensors used in human motion detection combined with artificial intelligence are surveyed. Challenges such as the biocompatibility, integration, and additivity of the sensors are discussed as well.

A simple and cost-effective co-electrodeposition process has been demonstrated to fabricate high-performance Cu ₂ ZnSnS ₄ (CZTS) photovoltaic materials with composition tunability and phase controllability.