In this paper, a high-sensitivity low power photodetector using double gate (DG) MOSFET is proposed for the first time using change in subthreshold current under illumination as the sensitivity parameter. An analytical model for optically controlled double gate (DG) MOSFET under illumination is developed to demonstrate that it can be used as high sensitivity photodetector and simulation results are used to validate the analytical results. Sensitivity of the device is compared with conventional bulk MOSFET and results show that DG MOSFET has higher sensitivity over bulk MOSFET due to much lower dark current obtained in DG MOSFET because of its effective gate control. Impact of the silicon film thickness and gate stack engineering is also studied on sensitivity.