A review on realizing the modern optoelectronic applications through persistent photoconductivity

Abstract Optoelectronic devices are becoming increasingly important due to their compatibility with CMOS fabrication technology and their superior performance in all dimensions compared to currently available devices. Numerous modern applications are formulated based on various aspects of optoelectronic materials and devices, such as artificial intelligence, optical memory, optoelectronic synapses, humanoid-photodetectors, holography, solar cells, charge storage devices, bio-electronic devices, and so on. Persistent photoconductivity (PPC), an optoelectronic phenomenon that has piqued the scientific community’s interest, is a novel approach to these modern applications. In this article, we highlighted the use of PPC in a variety of emerging optoelectronic applications. PPC is a light-induced mechanism that persists after light excitation is terminated, i.e. the response does not stop immediately but remains available for a period of time. In recent years, the time duration over which the response after turning off the illumination is available has been proposed for a variety of applications. PPC has primarily been explored from a theoretical point of view, with the application component being largely ignored. Very recently, the scientific community has started exploring the possible applications pertaining to PPC such as optoelectronic synapses, holography, optical memory, bioelectronics, and artificial intelligence. Depending on the nature of the material and the type of model used in the application, a variety of mechanisms can be used to modulate the charge trapping and de-trapping methodologies for a specific application. This topical review summarizes the origins of PPC, its control mechanism, and recent advances in a variety of materials such as metal oxides, superconductors, nanofibers, 2D-semiconductors, alloys, nitrides, organic materials, topological insulators, and so on. In addition, the paper has carefully explored the development of next-generation optoelectronic applications designed for industry 4.0 leveraging the PPC phenomenon.