Low dimensional materials including quantum dots, nanowires, 2D materials, and so forth have attracted increasing research interests for electronic and optoelectronic devices in recent years. Photogating, which is usually observed in photodetectors based on low dimensional materials and their hybrid structures, is demonstrated to play an important role. Photogating is considered as a way of conductance modulation through photoinduced gate voltage instead of simply and totally attributing it to trap states. This review first focuses on the gain of photogating and reveals the distinction from conventional photoconductive effect. The trap‐ and hybrid‐induced photogating including their origins, formations, and characteristics are subsequently discussed. Then, the recent progress on trap‐ and hybrid‐induced photogating in low dimensional photodetectors is elaborated. Though a high gain bandwidth product as high as 10⁹ Hz is reported in several cases, a trade‐off between gain and bandwidth has to be made for this type of photogating. The general photogating is put forward according to another three reported studies very recently. General photogating may enable simultaneous high gain and high bandwidth, paving the way to explore novel high‐performance photodetectors.

The mid-infrared (MIR) spectral range, pertaining to important applications, such as molecular “fingerprint” imaging, remote sensing, free space telecommunication, and optical radar, is of particular scientific interest and technological importance. However, state-of-the-art materials for MIR detection are limited by intrinsic noise and inconvenient fabrication processes, resulting in high-cost photodetectors requiring cryogenic operation. We report black arsenic phosphorus–based long-wavelength IR photodetectors, with room temperature operation up to 8.2 μm, entering the second MIR atmospheric transmission window. Combined with a van der Waals heterojunction, room temperature–specific detectivity higher than 4.9 × 10⁹ Jones was obtained in the 3- to 5-μm range. The photodetector works in a zero-bias photovoltaic mode, enabling fast photoresponse and low dark noise. Our van der Waals heterojunction photodetectors not only exemplify black arsenic phosphorus as a promising candidate for MIR optoelectronic applications but also pave the way for a general strategy to suppress 1/f noise in photonic devices.