Photodiode and Photomultiplication Organic Photodetectors: A Comprehensive Review of Materials, Working Mechanisms and Potential Applications

Research on organic photodetectors (OPDs) has attracted widespread attention due to the significant advantages of organic semiconducting materials with large absorption coefficient, easily adjusting optical bandgap and solution processing. Two typical terminal OPDs are photodiode type (PD‐OPDs) with external quantum efficiency (EQE) less than 100% and photomultiplication‐type (PM‐OPDs) with EQE much larger than 100%. In this review article, we summarized the typical works from materials and device physics on optimizing the key parameters, such as response spectral range, response speed, signal‐to‐noise ratios, stability, also including the potential applications of OPDs and recent progress on the integrated PD/PM dual‐mode OPDs. The review offers an in‐depth comparison of PD‐OPDs and PM‐OPDs covering their respective performance metrics and limitations, which should provide the more systematic and comprehensive information organization for researchers in the field of OPDs.