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Spin-selective heterogeneous chiral perovskites for circular-polarization-resolved retinomorphic sensors
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  • Published: 30 March 2026

Spin-selective heterogeneous chiral perovskites for circular-polarization-resolved retinomorphic sensors

  • De Yu1 na1,
  • Xin Zhang1 na1,
  • Tao Wang  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-3272-47352,
  • Yuheng Li  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1865-11223,
  • Ruiqin He1,
  • Zeyang Xu1,
  • Jixin Tang1,
  • Yixuan Zhang  ORCID: orcid.org/0009-0006-0693-52713,
  • Xinmiao Zhang1,
  • Huang Huang4,
  • Tongpeng Zhao1,
  • Haoliang Liu  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1606-18581,
  • Ao Liu  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2232-16335,
  • Kai Shen  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-3689-11865,
  • Sai Bai  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7623-686X5,
  • Huihui Zhu  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-7241-33446,
  • Yimu Chen  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-5118-80481,7 &
  • …
  • Qinghai Song  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1048-411X1,7 

Nature Communications , Article number:  (2026) Cite this article

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We are providing an unedited version of this manuscript to give early access to its findings. Before final publication, the manuscript will undergo further editing. Please note there may be errors present which affect the content, and all legal disclaimers apply.

Subjects

  • Electronic and spintronic devices
  • Optical sensors
  • Organic–inorganic nanostructures
  • Sensors and biosensors

Abstract

As a type of promising hardware for next-generation artificial visual systems with extended perceptual and anti-interference capabilities, circular-polarization-resolved retinomorphic sensors are underexplored due to the lack of suitable chiral materials that enable highly dissymmetric circular-polarization responses and multiple biomimetic functions. Here, we demonstrate a self-assembly heterogeneous microstructure consisting of chiral-deficient grains and chiral-rich grain boundaries in chiral perovskites that simultaneously facilitate spin selectivity and optoelectronic properties for highly dissymmetric and multifunctional circular-polarization-resolved retinomorphic sensors. Our sensors not only exhibit a photocurrent dissymmetry factor as high as 1.98 and a panchromatic circular-polarization-resolved response, but also possess multiple biomimetic functions that simulate human retinas, including synaptic behaviors, light adaptation, and color recognition. As a proof-of-concept, we respectively demonstrate their applications using a sensor array that resolves a single circular-polarization handedness for information encryption, as well as binocular sensor arrays that resolve the opposite circular-polarization handedness for virtual stereoscopic reconstruction.

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Data availability

Data generated in this study are provided in the Source Data file or upon request from the corresponding authors. Source data are provided with this paper.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China: 2023YFB2806704 (Y.C. and Q.S.) and 2024YFB2809200 (Q.S.); the National Natural Science Foundation of China: 62575086 (Y.C.), 12334016 (Q.S.), and 52302164 (K.S.); the Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation: 2023B1515020032 (Y.C.); the Shenzhen Fundamental research project: RCYX20221008092847060 (Y.C.); the New Cornerstone Science Foundation through the XPLORER PRIZE (Q.S.); the Financial Support for Outstanding scientific and technological innovation Talents Training Fund in Shenzhen (Q.S.)

Author information

Author notes
  1. These authors contributed equally: De Yu, Xin Zhang.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Integrated Circuits, Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen), Shenzhen, Guangdong, China

    De Yu, Xin Zhang, Ruiqin He, Zeyang Xu, Jixin Tang, Xinmiao Zhang, Tongpeng Zhao, Haoliang Liu, Yimu Chen & Qinghai Song

  2. School of Physics and Electronics, Henan University, Kaifeng, Henan, China

    Tao Wang

  3. Sustainable Energy and Environment Thrust, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou), Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

    Yuheng Li & Yixuan Zhang

  4. Department of Materials Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

    Huang Huang

  5. Institute of Fundamental and Frontier Sciences, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

    Ao Liu, Kai Shen & Sai Bai

  6. School of Physics, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

    Huihui Zhu

  7. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Semiconductor Optoelectronic Materials and Intelligent Photonic Systems, Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen), Shenzhen, Guangdong, China

    Yimu Chen & Qinghai Song

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Contributions

Y.C. and Q.S. conceived the idea. T.W., K.S., H.Z., S.B., and Y.C. supervised the project and wrote the manuscript. D.Y., X.Z., T.W., R.H., Z.X., J.T., X.M.Z., H.H., and T.Z. prepared the materials, fabricated the devices, and performed the characterizations. Y.Z and Y.L. carried out theoretical calculations. D.Y., X.Z., T.W., R.H., Z.X., J.T., X.M.Z., H.H., T.Z., H.L., A.L., K.S., S.B., H.Z., Y.C., and Q.S. contributed to analyzing the data and commenting on the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Tao Wang, Kai Shen, Sai Bai, Huihui Zhu, Yimu Chen or Qinghai Song.

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Yu, D., Zhang, X., Wang, T. et al. Spin-selective heterogeneous chiral perovskites for circular-polarization-resolved retinomorphic sensors. Nat Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-71190-9

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  • Received: 31 July 2025

  • Accepted: 16 March 2026

  • Published: 30 March 2026

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-71190-9

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