Realization of a infrared detector free of bandwidth limit based on quartz crystal tuning fork

•A photoelectric detector based on the piezoelectric effect of the QCTF is developed.•The photoelectric detector has no need for costly material development and cooling.•The new type of photodetector has no bandwidth limitation. A new type of photoelectric detector based on a standard quartz crystal tuning fork (QCTF) with resonant frequency of ∼32 kHz is developed for infrared spectroscopy applications. Analogous to the photoelectric effect of traditional semiconductor detectors, we utilize the piezoelectric effect of the QCTF to gauge the light intensity. To demonstrate this technique, the spectral absorption features of C2H2 molecule have been recorded and compared with a commercial mercury cadmium-telluride (MCT) detector. The proposed detection technique may pave a new way towards developing a new type of photodetector without bandwidth limit and complicated cryogenic cooling,