Beyond infrared: the future of quantum photodetection with Sb-based type-II superlattice semiconductors

Photodetector technology has evolved from discrete devices to multispectral and hyperspectral focal-plane arrays, yet the next frontier requires universal quantum photodetectors capable of single-photon detection with near-fundamental sensitivity, intrinsic gain, ultralow noise, high speed, and scalable integration. Achieving these capabilities demands semiconductor materials whose optical absorption, carrier transport, impact ionization, avalanche multiplication, dark current, and quantum efficiency can be engineered with atomic precision. Sb-based III–V semiconductors offer an exceptionally versatile platform for this purpose. Their compositional flexibility and tunable band structures enable control of absorption, confinement, transport, recombination, and multiplication across wavelengths from the visible to the very-long-wave infrared, with potential extension into the ultraviolet and terahertz regions. This perspective reviews four decades of research from Razeghi’s laboratory establishing the foundations of Sb-based quantum photodetection. Key advances include antimonide materials and epitaxial growth technologies; novel alloys and heterostructures; room-temperature long-wavelength detectors based on InTlSb and InBiSb; Type-II superlattice detectors spanning the SWIR to VLWIR; and quantum-engineered avalanche photodiodes and heterojunction phototransistors combining high internal gain, low excess noise, and rapid response. Particular emphasis is placed on internal-gain architectures that multiply carriers before readout, overcoming readout-noise limitations and enabling single- and few-photon detection. By tailoring impact-ionization coefficients, electric fields, quantum confinement, and transport, these devices provide a pathway toward photon-counting focal-plane arrays. A roadmap is presented for universal Sb-based heterostructures spanning the deep ultraviolet through terahertz frequencies, with transformative applications in quantum imaging, communications, metrology, LiDAR, biomedicine, astronomy, environmental monitoring, defense, space exploration, integrated quantum photonics, and sensing technologies worldwide.