Mercury Selenide (HgSe): The Narrow-Gap Semiconductor Quietly Powering the Next Wave of Infrared and

Mercury selenide (HgSe) is moving from niche curiosity to strategic material because it sits at the intersection of quantum behavior and manufacturable semiconductors. As a narrow-gap, heavy-element compound, it supports strong spin–orbit coupling and unusual carrier dynamics that researchers can tune through composition, temperature, and nanostructuring. That combination positions HgSe for infrared optoelectronics, advanced photodetectors, and exploratory quantum devices where conventional silicon simply cannot deliver comparable sensitivity or spectral reach.

What makes HgSe especially timely is the way device expectations are changing. Edge AI needs sensors that extract more signal with less power, while security, industrial monitoring, and next-generation imaging demand performance in challenging spectral bands. HgSe-based nanocrystals and thin films offer a pathway to engineer band structure and transport properties with a materials-first approach, potentially enabling compact IR components and novel spin-aware architectures. The technical agenda, however, is not optional: reproducible synthesis, interface control, and defect management must be treated as core product requirements, not academic afterthoughts.

For decision-makers, the opportunity is to build advantage early by investing in scalable deposition, robust encapsulation, and metrology that can quantify stoichiometry and electronic uniformity at production-relevant throughput. For technical leaders, the winning roadmap connects materials engineering to system-level outcomes: noise-equivalent power, stability under thermal cycling, and compatibility with CMOS integration flows. HgSe will not replace mainstream semiconductors, but it can unlock high-value capabilities where performance, not volume, defines the market. 

Read More: https://www.360iresearch.com/library/intelligence/mercury-selenide

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