Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

The rising promise of organic photodetectors in emerging technologies

Built on the versatile chemistry of organic semiconductors, organic photodetectors offer efficient thin-film light absorption, mechanical flexibility, spectral tunability and biocompatibility. They are unlocking applications where conformability, seamless integration, human-centric integration and large-area processing are critical.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Application formats of organic photodetectors.

References

  1. Du, B. et al. A water-resistant, ultrathin, conformable organic photodetector for vital sign monitoring. Sci. Adv. 10, eadp2679 (2024).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Zeynali, M., Alipour, K., Tarvirdizadeh, B. & Ghamari, M. Non-invasive blood glucose monitoring using PPG signals with various deep learning models and implementation using TinyML. Sci. Rep. 15, 581 (2025).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Kim, Y. et al. An ultra thin implantable system for cerebral blood volume monitoring using flexible OLED and OPD. In 2015 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) 29.6.1–26.6.4 (IEEE, 2015).

  4. Schrickx, H. M. et al. Flexible self‐powered organic photodetector with high detectivity for continuous on‐plant sensing. Adv. Opt. Mater. 12, 2400005 (2024).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. He, X. et al. A microsized optical spectrometer based on an organic photodetector with an electrically tunable spectral response. Nat. Electron. 7, 694–704 (2024).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Ohkubo, T. et al. A color image sensor using 1.0-μm organic photoconductive film pixels stacked on 4.0-μm Si pixels for near-infrared time-of-flight depth sensing. In 2024 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) 1–4 (IEEE, 2024).

  7. Wang, Y. et al. Semitransparent near‐infrared organic photodetectors: flexible, large‐area, and physical‐vapor‐deposited for versatile advanced optical applications. Adv. Funct. Mater. 34, 2313689 (2024).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Kamijo, T. et al. A touchless user interface based on a near-infrared-sensitive transparent optical imager. Nat. Electron. 6, 451–461 (2023).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Li, T. et al. Highly sensitive water pollution monitoring using colloid-processed organic photodetectors. Nat. Water 2, 577–588 (2024).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Kim, D. et al. Visible-light communication with lighting: RGB wavelength division multiplexing OLEDs/OPDs platform. Adv. Mater. 36, 2309416 (2024).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 22375143, 52073207 and 52121002), the Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars of Tianjin Municipality (no. 23JCJQJC00240) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Dae Sung Chung  (정대성), Yanhou Geng  (耿延候) or Long Ye  (叶龙).

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhang, K., Wu, J., Sun, C. et al. The rising promise of organic photodetectors in emerging technologies. Nat Rev Mater 10, 487–489 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41578-025-00821-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41578-025-00821-2

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing