Pulsed‐Laser Deposition of Ge‐Doped BiTe Nanofilms and Their Application in Room‐Temperature Long‐Wave Infrared Photodetection

Abstract Long‐wave infrared photodetectors play an indispensable role in a variety of fields such as science, technology, engineering, and medicine. However, to date, most conventional long‐wave infrared photodetectors need to be operated under low temperature to meet the performance requirements. This can lead to a series of problems such as large device volume and high operating cost. Therefore, it is urgent to explore novel long‐wave photosensitive materials. In recent years, the development of nanotechnology has opened a new door for long‐wave infrared photodetection. Herein, pulsed‐laser deposition is successfully applied to the preparation of Ge‐doped BiTe (GBT) thin films. Importantly, the corresponding GBT photodetector exhibits excellent long‐wave infrared photosensitivity. Specifically, upon 10.5 µm illumination, the responsivity, external quantum efficiency, and detectivity reach 1.41 mA W⁻¹, 0.017%, and 1.96 × 10⁶ Jones, respectively. Moreover, a fast response rate with the rise/decay time down to 42.5/41.1 µs is realized. On this basis, the GBT photodetector is used as the receiving unit for optical signals to achieve proof‐of‐concept long‐wave optical information transmission application. On the whole, this study provides a new material platform for long‐wave optoelectronic sensing.