Moore and More ›› 2026, Vol. 2 ›› Issue (1): 57-83.DOI: 10.1007/s44275-025-00033-4

• REVIEW • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Van der Waals heterojunctions of 2D organic–inorganic materials for high-performance photodetectors

Hongsong Liu1, Cong Peng2, Zhihao Huang1, Cong Zhang1, Guangxin Sun1, Shuangqing Fan1, Cong Wang3, Beibei Fu1,*()   

  1. 1 School of Electronic and Information Engineering, Qingdao University , Qingdao 266071, Shandong, China
    2 Key Laboratory of Advanced Display and System Applications of Ministry of Education, Shanghai University , Shanghai 200072, China
    3 Innovative Center for Flexible Devices (iFLEX), Max Planck–NTU Joint Lab for Artificial Senses, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University , Singapore 639798, Singapore
  • Received:2024-12-25 Revised:2025-04-03 Accepted:2025-04-09 Published:2026-03-20 Online:2026-05-12
  • Contact: *Beibei Fu (fubb@qdu.edu.cn)
  • About author:Hongsong Liu is currently a graduate student in the School of Electronic and Information Engineering, Qingdao University. He received his B.S. from Ludong University in 2021. His research interests are focused on photodetectors based on organic–inorganic ultrathin van der Waals single-crystal heterojunctions.
    Cong Peng is a postdoctoral researcher in the School of Microelectronics, Shanghai University. He received his Ph.D. degree from Shanghai university in 2022 (supervisor: Prof. Xifeng Li). His research interests focus on oxide semiconductors, thin-film transistors, and optoelectronic devices.
    Zhihao Huang is currently an undergraduate student in the School of Electronic Information Engineering, Qingdao University. His current main research focuses on 2D organic–inorganic heterojunction optoelectronic devices.
    Cong Zhang is currently a graduate student in the School of Electronic Information Engineering, Qingdao University. His research focus is heterojunction photodetectors.
    Guangxin Sun is currently a graduate student in the School of Electronic Information Engineering, Qingdao University. He received his B.S. degree from Qingdao University of China. His current research interests focus on 2D/organic heterojunction optoelectronic devices.
    Shuangqing Fan received his Ph.D. from Tianjin University in 2019 and joined Qingdao University as an associate professor in the same year. His current research interests focus on neuromorphic devices.
    Cong Wang received her Ph.D. degree from the Department of Chemistry, Tianjin University and the Collaborative Innovation Centre of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin) under the supervision of Prof. Wenping Hu in 2019. She then joined Nanyang Technological University as a research fellow in Prof. Xiaodong Chen’s group. Her interest is in the fields of organic field-effect transistors and flexible devices.
    Beibei Fu is a distinguished professor in the School of Electronic and Information Engineering, Qingdao University. She received her Ph.D. degree from Tianjin University in 2022 (supervisor: Prof. Wenping Hu), and then joined Qingdao University as a distinguished professor. Her research interests focus on molecular semiconductor materials, crystals, organic–inorganic heterojunction, and optoelectronic devices.

Abstract:

Two-dimensional (2D) organic–inorganic van der Waals heterojunctions (vdWHs) represent an emerging class of materials that could combine the characteristic structures and outstanding properties of both 2D materials and organic–inorganic components within a single composite, providing an ideal platform for broader, superior, and on-demand functional applications. Particularly, the use of 2D organic–inorganic vdWHs with different photosensitive materials and photonic structures plays a critical role in optimizing the photodetection and modulation efficiency, opening new avenues for designing and developing advanced optoelectronic devices. In recent years, great progress has been made in photodetectors based on the 2D organic–inorganic vdWHs, and this review aims to offer a timely overview of this evolving field. First, a survey of 2D inorganic and organic materials that prototypically are used for the fabrication of vdWHs, and then the fabrication approaches toward advanced 2D organic–inorganic vdWHs are highlighted. Following this, 2D organic–inorganic vdWH-based photodetectors and their potential applications are described. Finally, the frontier challenges and perspectives associated with the 2D organic–inorganic vdWHs are presented, in the hope of providing guidance for future research.

Key words: 2D materials, Van der Waals, Organic–inorganic heterojunctions, Photodetectors