Low-dimensional inorganic nanostructures such as quantum dots as well as one- and two-dimensional nanostructures are widely studied and already used in high-performance infrared photodetectors. These structures feature large surface-to-volume ratios, tunable light absorption, and electron-limiting effects. This article reviews the state-of-the-art research of low-dimensional inorganic nanostructures and their application for infrared photodetection. Thanks to nano-structuring, a narrow bandgap, hybrid systems, surface-plasmon resonance, and doping, many common semiconductors have the potential to be used for infrared detection. The basic approaches towards infrared detection are summarized. Furthermore, a selection of very important and special nanostructured materials and their remarkable infrared-detection properties are introduced (e.g., black phosphorus, graphene-based, MoX₂-based, III–VII group). Each section in this review describes the corresponding photosensitive properties in detail. The article concludes with an outlook of anticipated future developments in the field.

低维无机纳米结构如量子点以及一维和二维纳米结构被广泛研究并已用于高性能红外光电探测器。这些结构具有较大的表面积与体积比、可调光吸收和电子限制效应。本文综述了低维无机纳米结构的最新研究及其在红外光电探测中的应用。由于纳米结构、窄带隙、混合系统、表面等离子体共振和掺杂，许多常见的半导体都有可能用于红外检测。总结了红外检测的基本方法。此外，还介绍了一系列非常重要和特殊的纳米结构材料及其卓越的红外探测特性（例如，基于₂，III-VII 组）。本综述中的每个部分都详细描述了相应的光敏特性。文章最后对该领域的预期未来发展进行了展望。