Current Progress of Excellent Photodetectors Based on Novel Semiconductor Nanomaterials

Photodetectors have undergone widespread, gradual application. Correlation detectors with varying properties are used in diverse fields. This review systematically summarizes the principles, properties, and applications of various photoelectric detectors reported in the past five years, compares their similarities and differences, and further discusses their respective advantages and disadvantages, applicable scenarios, and development prospects. The review covers self-powered detectors, which are very convenient and widely used in consumer electronics and portable wearable devices, and discusses the structural design and photoelectric performance of devices based on P–N junctions, perovskites, silicon–polymer hybrid composites, graphene, hybrid graphene/PbS quantum dot systems, and other novel material architectures. Compound photoelectric detectors enable multifunctional integration and intellectualization. At the same time, their high sensitivity and broad-spectrum response can expand the detection wavelength range to cover the ultraviolet, visible, and infrared bands and enhance the detection of weak optical signals. Finally, this review summarizes current challenges, including cumbersome fabrication processes, susceptibility of detection stability to environmental interference, and limited functionality, and focuses on recent advances in various photodetectors, where breakthroughs are expected.