Fast and sensitive terahertz detection using an antenna-integrated graphene pn-junction

Although the detection of light at terahertz (THz) frequencies is important for a large range of applications, current detectors typically have several disadvantages in terms of sensitivity, speed, operating temperature, and spectral range. Here, we use graphene as photoactive material to overcome a...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Castilla, Sebastián, Terrés, Bernat, Autore, Marta, Viti, Leonardo, Li, Jian, Nikitin, Alexey Y., Vangelidis, Ioannis, Watanabe, Kenji, Taniguchi, Takashi, Lidorikis, Elefterios, Vitiello, Miriam S., Hillenbrand, Rainer, Tielrooij, Klaas-Jan, Koppens, Frank H. L.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repositorio:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/130816
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/130816
https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.8b04171
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Graphene
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Grafè
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Física
Descripción
Sumario:Although the detection of light at terahertz (THz) frequencies is important for a large range of applications, current detectors typically have several disadvantages in terms of sensitivity, speed, operating temperature, and spectral range. Here, we use graphene as photoactive material to overcome all of these limitations in one device. We introduce a novel detector for terahertz radiation that exploits the photo-thermoelectric effect, based on a design that employs a dual-gated, dipolar antenna with a gap of ~100 nm. This narrow-gap antenna simultaneously creates a pn-junction in a graphene channel located above the antenna, and strongly concentrates the incoming radiation at this pn-junction, where the photoresponse is created. We demonstrate that this novel detector has excellent sensitivity, with a noise-equivalent power of 80 pW/√Hz at room temperature, a response time below 30 ns (setup-limited), a high dynamic range (linear power dependence over more than 3 orders of magnitude) and broadband operation (measured range 1.8 - 4.2 THz, antenna-limited), which fulfils a combination that is currently missing in the state of the art. Importantly, based on the agreement we obtain between experiment, analytical model, and numerical simulations, we have reached a solid understanding of how the PTE eect gives rise to a THz-induced photoresponse, which is very valuable for further detector optimization.