Advances in indium antimonide (InSb): A comprehensive review of properties, preparation methods, and photodetection

Over the past decade, as an important narrow-band semiconductor material with unique physical and chemical properties, InSb shows great potential for applications in several cutting-edge scientific and technological fields, such as infrared detection, terahertz technology, and quantum computing. In this paper, we comprehensively review the major growth methods of InSb materials, including Czochralski (CZ) method, molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), and CBE method. The growth mechanism, process characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of each method, as well as its performance in practical applications are discussed in detail. Meanwhile, the article provides an in-depth analysis of the key performance indicators of InSb materials in high-performance device applications and summarizes the challenges faced in large-scale production, impurity control, crystallization quality and large-area uniformity. Finally, it looks into the future development direction of InSb growth technology, and proposes strategies to further enhance the performance and application scope of InSb materials through the exploration of novel growth methods, optimization of existing technologies, and development of composite materials to meet the needs of future scientific and technological development.