Open AccessHarvesting light at the nanoscale by GaAs-gold nanowire arrays
Author(s) -
Stéphane Collin,
Fabrice Pardo,
Nathalie Bardou,
A. Lemaı̂tre,
С. В. Аверин,
Jean-Luc Pélouard
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.19.017293
Subject(s) - nanowire , materials science , optoelectronics , nanoscopic scale , polarization (electrochemistry) , optics , semiconductor , photodetector , absorption (acoustics) , schottky barrier , gallium arsenide , nanotechnology , diode , chemistry , physics , composite material
A nanoscale metal-semiconductor-metal photodetector with a 40 nm-thick GaAs absorbing layer has been studied numerically and experimentally. A gold nanowire array is the top mirror of a Fabry-Perot cavity and forms interdigitated Schottky contacts. Nearly perfect absorption is achieved in TE polarization. It is shown numerically that the gold nanowire array induces light absorption in GaAs nanowires with tiny sections (100 nm × 40 nm). High external quantum efficiency (η > 40 %) is demonstrated.