Mid-infrared vision sensor based on suspended perovskite oxides down to nanometer scale

ABSTRACT Intelligent mid-infrared (MIR) imaging integrates in-sensor preprocessing of thermal information, thereby reducing data redundancy and improving target-recognition robustness under low-visibility conditions. However, unlike in the visible regime, photoconductive programmability in the MIR typically relies on narrow-bandgap materials, which inherently limit stable and reconfigurable operation. Here, we report a programmable photothermoelectric detector based on a suspended nanometer-thick SrTiO3 membrane. Dimensional scaling of the thermoelectric channel enhances sensitivity and enables a response time of ∼10 μs, over 104 times faster than bulk SrTiO3. Through dual-gate electrostatic modulation of the Seebeck profile, the device exhibits bidirectionally tunable photothermoelectric responsivity up to 50 V W−1 and supports 40 experimentally observed programmable response states. By leveraging a 3 × 3 programmable device array with device-to-device consistent gate-programmable photoresponse and reproducible polarity switching, a recognition accuracy of 83% is achieved under visually degraded conditions. Furthermore, the programmable array enables attention-guided thermal image weighting by enhancing target thermal signatures while suppressing background interference. These results demonstrate the dimensional scaling of perovskite oxides as an effective route toward adaptive, low-power machine vision and neuromorphic infrared electronics.