While silicon photonic integrated circuits for the near‐infrared (IR) telecommunication band have attracted great research interest in the past decade, recent advances offer opportunities to extend the operational wavelength to the mid‐IR (2.5‐20 μm) for free space communications, sensing, environmental monitoring and much more. In this study, we will comprehensively review the current status of materials available for mid‐IR waveguides and waveguide integrated photodetectors, with a few application oriented examples to illustrate the technological importance and significant growth opportunity for integrated photonics in the mid‐IR regime. However, this wavelength regime also presents new material design and fabrication challenges. Therefore, we will discuss the critical issues prior to commercialization and will briefly summarize the outlook on future research topics along with opportunities.

中文翻译：

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中红外的集成光子材料

在过去十年中，近红外（IR）电信频段的硅光子集成电路吸引了极大的研究兴趣，而最近的进展为自由空间通信提供了将工作波长扩展到中红外（2.5-20μm）的机会，感应，环境监控等等。在本研究中，我们将全面回顾可用于中红外波导和波导集成光电探测器的材料的现状，并提供一些面向应用的示例，以说明中红外技术中集成光子技术的重要性和巨大的增长机会。但是，这种波长范围也提出了新的材料设计和制造挑战。因此，