Research progress of waveguide integrated carbon based infrared detectors

Carbon-based materials have garnered significant attention in the field of infrared photodetection due to their unique and excellent physical properties, including optical, thermal, electrical, magnetic, and mechanical properties. These characteristics endow them with broad application prospects in various fields such as communication, military, imaging, energy, and biology. However, in practical scenarios oriented towards engineering applications, carbon-based materials still encounter numerous challenges, including weak absorption in the infrared band, insufficient sensitivity, and slow response in fullerenes, graphene, and single carbon nanotubes. When integrated with waveguides, carbon-based materials can effectively suppress environmental dissipation of light transmission, confine the light field, enhance the coupling efficiency between light and matter, thereby improving the signal-to-noise ratio, sensitivity, response speed, and operating bandwidth of the detector. On the other hand, waveguide-integrated photodetectors are compatible with CMOS processing technology, promising low-cost, high-density integration to meet the development needs of next-generation infrared photodetectors. This paper provides an overview of carbon-based infrared photodetectors integrated with various waveguide materials, offering a detailed analysis of performance enhancement strategies and development bottlenecks for these devices. Finally, it explores the future directions of waveguide-integrated carbon-based infrared detectors.