Organic photomultiplication photodetectors have attracted considerable research interest due to their extremely high external quantum efficiency and corresponding high detectivity. Significant progress has been made in the aspects of their structural design and performance improvement in the past few years. There are two types of organic photomultiplication photodetectors, which are made of organic small molecular compounds and polymers. In this paper, the research progress in each type of organic photomultiplication photodetectors based on the trap assisted carrier tunneling effect is reviewed in detail. In addition, other mechanisms for the photomultiplication processes in organic devices are introduced. Finally, the paper is summarized and the prospects of future research into organic photomultiplication photodetectors are discussed.
Keywords: external quantum efficiency; organic; photodetector; photomultiplication; tunneling.