Open AccessNanowire Terahertz detectors with a resonant four-leaf-clover-shaped antenna
Author(s) -
Leonardo Viti,
Dominique Coquillat,
Daniele Ercolani,
L. Sorba,
W. Knap,
Miriam S. Vitiello
Publication year - 2014
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.22.008996
Subject(s) - terahertz radiation , nanowire , noise equivalent power , optics , detector , metamaterial , antenna (radio) , optoelectronics , terahertz spectroscopy and technology , physics , responsivity , materials science , electrical engineering , engineering
We report on the development of an innovative class of nanowire-based Terahertz (THz) detectors in which the metamaterial properties of an antenna have been imported in the detection scheme of an overdamped plasma-wave field-effect transistor making its response resonant to THz radiation. Responsivities of ~105 V/W at 0.3 THz, with noise equivalent power levels ≈ 10(-10) W/√Hz, detectivities ~2 · 10(8) cm√Hz/W and quantum efficiencies ~1.2 · 10(-5) are reached at room-temperature. The resonant nature of the detection scheme provided by the four-leaf-clover-shaped geometry and the possibility to extend this technology to large multi-pixel arrays opens the path to demanding applications for ultra-sensitive metrology, spectroscopy and biomedicine.