Optically Driven Eutectogel Pyroelectric for Efficient Deformable Photodetectors.

Ionic gels are emerging stimuli-response elastomers for biomimetic sensors in diverse fields. Photoresponse ionic gels can detect light as a photoreceptor to emulate biological vision for artificial retina and skin. However, the existing ionic gel-based photosensors face limited response speeds and detecting sensitivity due to inefficient ion transport. Here, a high-performance elastomeric photodetector made of polyvinyl alcohol-based pyroelectric eutectogels, containing polar ions and crystalline domains, is reported, which exhibits a high pyroelectric coefficient and enables efficient optical-to-electrical conversion via spontaneous polarization, even under 30% tensile strain. The resulting self-powered photodetector features a broad spectral response spanning 365-1300 nm, with photoresponsivity, detectivity, and response time of 42.06 mA W-1, 7.65 × 1010 Jones and 24/35 ms at 455 nm, respectively. The photodetector array enables light-encrypted communication and sensitive optical imaging.