Integrated polarization-sensitive amplification system for digital information transmission

Though low-dimensional (LD) materials are attractive for polarization-type photodetectors, their low anisotropic photocurrent rate hinders widespread application. Here, the authors report an amplification system for enhanced photocurrent in polarization-sensitive LD material-based photodetectors. Polarized light can provide significant information about objects, and can be used as information carrier in communication systems through artificial modulation. However, traditional polarized light detection systems integrate polarizers and various functional circuits in addition to detectors, and are supplemented by complex encoding and decoding algorithms. Although the in-plane anisotropy of low-dimensional materials can be utilized to manufacture polarization-sensitive photodetectors without polarizers, the low anisotropic photocurrent ratio makes it impossible to realize digital output of polarized information. In this study, we propose an integrated polarization-sensitive amplification system by introducing a nanowire polarized photodetector and organic semiconductor transistors, which can boost the polarization sensitivity from 1.24 to 375. Especially, integrated systems are universal in that the systems can increase the anisotropic photocurrent ratio of any low-dimensional material corresponding to the polarized light. Consequently, a simple digital polarized light communication system can be realized based on this integrated system, which achieves certain information disguising and confidentiality effects.

Automated summary

The authors propose an integrated polarization-sensitive amplification system using a nanowire polarized photodetector and organic semiconductor transistors to boost the polarization sensitivity from 1.24 to 375. This integrated system can increase the anisotropic photocurrent ratio of any low-dimensional material corresponding to the polarized light, enabling the realization of a simple digital polarized light communication system with certain information disguising and confidentiality effects.