Mid-infrared vision sensor based on Suspended Perovskite Oxides Down to Nanometer Scale
Haozhe Li, Haoran Mu, Wenzhi Yu, Yang Zhou, Kaiwen Gong, Yun Li, Jianxian He, Chen Chen, Jinkui Zhao, Daohua Zhang, Xiaoxue Song, Yuan Yang, Fang Wang, Guanyu Zhang, Shenghuang LinAbstract
Intelligent mid-infrared (MIR) imaging integrates in-sensor preprocessing of thermal information, thereby reducing data redundancy and improving target-recognition robustness under low-visibility conditions. However, unlike in the visible regime, photoconductive programmability in the MIR typically relies on narrow-bandgap materials, which inherently limit stable and reconfigurable operation. Here, we report a programmable photothermoelectric (PTE) detector based on a suspended nanometer-thick SrTiO3 membrane. Dimensional scaling of the thermoelectric channel enhances sensitivity and enables a response time of ∼10 μs, over 104 times faster than bulk SrTiO3. Through dual-gate electrostatic modulation of the Seebeck profile, the device exhibits bidirectionally tunable photothermoelectric responsivity up to 50 V W−1 and supports 40 experimentally observed programmable response states. By leveraging a 3 × 3 programmable device array with device-to-device consistent gate-programmable photoresponse and reproducible polarity switching, a recognition accuracy of 83% is achieved under visually degraded conditions. Furthermore, the programmable array enables attention-guided thermal image weighting by enhancing target thermal signatures while suppressing background interference. These results demonstrate the dimensional scaling of perovskite oxides as an effective route toward adaptive, low-power machine vision and neuromorphic infrared electronics.