300 nm Spectral Resolution in the Mid-Infrared with Robust, High Responsivity Flexible Colloidal Quantum Dot Devices at Room Temperature

HgTe colloidal nanocrystals (NCs) are used as the sensitizing layer with a scalable, all air-processed patterning method to produce flexible room temperature multicolor detectors operating in the mid-infrared (MIR) spectral region. ;These devices demonstrate a color sensitivity down to 300 nm in the MIR (similar to 10% of scale), with superior responsivities for this class of device, up to 0.9 A/W, and competitive specific detectivity up to 8 x 10(9) Jones at 200 Hz and 300 K. Furthermore, these devices utilize a cheap and robust substrate material that allows operation after deformation up to 45 degrees without degradation over many cycles. As such, this offers a template for ultra low-cost MIR detectors with a performance that rivals microbolometers, but with better measurement speed and spectral sensitivity. As such, these devices showcase the advantages of using colloidal NCs in MIR applications.