High quantum efficiency and wide-band detection capability are the major thrusts of infrared sensing technology. However, bulk materials with high efficiency have consistently encountered challenges in integration and operational complexity. Meanwhile, two-dimensional (2D) semimetal materials with unique zero-bandgap structures are constrained by the bottleneck of intrinsic quantum efficiency. Here, we report a near-mid infrared ultra-miniaturized graphene photodetector with configurable 2D potential well. The 2D potential well constructed by dielectric structures can spatially (laterally and vertically) produce a strong trapping force on the photogenerated carriers in graphene and inhibit their recombination, thereby improving the external quantum efficiency (EQE) and photogain of the device with wavelength-immunity, which enable a high responsivity of 0.2 A/W–38 A/W across a broad infrared detection band from 1.55 to 11 µm. Thereafter, a room-temperature detectivity approaching 1 × 10⁹cm Hz^1/2 W⁻¹ is obtained under blackbody radiation. Furthermore, a synergistic effect of electric and light field in the 2D potential well enables high-efficiency polarization-sensitive detection at tunable wavelengths. Our strategy opens up alternative possibilities for easy fabrication, high-performance and multifunctional infrared photodetectors.

Serving as the “eyes” and “ears” of the Internet of Things, optical and acoustic sensors are the fundamental components in hardware systems. Nowadays, mainstream hardware systems, often comprising numerous discrete sensors, conversion modules, and processing units, tend to result in complex architectures that are less efficient compared to human sensory pathways. Here, a visual-audio photodetector inspired by the human perception system is proposed to enable all-in-one visual and acoustic signal detection with computing capability. This device not only captures light but also optically records sound waves, thus achieving “watching” and “listening” within a single unit. The gate-tunable positive, negative, and zero photoresponses lead to highly programmable responsivities. This programmability enables the execution of diverse functions, including visual feature extraction, object classification, and sound wave manipulation. These results showcase the potential of expanding perception approaches in neuromorphic devices, opening up new possibilities to craft intelligent and compact hardware systems.