In this letter, we report a quantum well infrared photodetector geometry for normal incidence light coupling. The new optical coupling scheme utilizes total internal reflection at the sidewalls of triangular wires to create favorable optical polarization for infrared absorption. These wires are created by chemically etching an array of V grooves through the detector active region along a specific crystallographic direction. Experimental results from the initial single color as well as two‐color detectors with linear wires and unthinned substrate show efficient light coupling comparable to the standard 45° edge coupling, without the undesirable wavelength dependence or spectral narrowing effect of a conventional grating structure. At the same time, the dark current density is substantially reduced due to the partial material removal. Further improvement is expected by creating a two‐dimensional coupling structure with substrate thinning.