Graphene Plasmonic Fractal Metamaterials for Broadband Photodetectors
Francesco De Nicola, Nikhil Santh Puthiya Purayil, Vaidotas Miŝeikis, Davide Spirito, Andrea Tomadin, Camilla Coletti, Marco Polini, Roman Krahne, Vittorio Pellegrini
Metamaterials have recently established a new paradigm for enhanced light absorption in state-of-the-art photodetectors. Here, we demonstrate broadband, highly efficient, polarization-insensitive, and gate-tunable photodetection at room temperature in a novel metadevice based on gold/graphene Sierpinski carpet plasmonic fractals. We observed an unprecedented internal quantum efficiency up to 100% from the near-infrared to the visible range with an upper bound of optical detectivity of $10^{11}$ Jones and a gain up to $10^{6}$, which is a fingerprint of multiple hot carriers photogenerated in graphene. Also, we show a 100-fold enhanced photodetection due to highly focused (up to a record factor of $|E/E_{0}|\approx20$ for graphene) electromagnetic fields induced by electrically tunable multimodal plasmons, spatially localized in self-similar fashion on the metasurface. Our findings give direct insight into the physical processes governing graphene plasmonic fractal metamaterials. The proposed structure represents a promising route for the realization of a broadband, compact, and active platform for future optoelectronic devices including multiband bio/chemical and light sensors.
We appraise a waveguide-integrated plasmonic graphene photodetector based on the hot carrier photo-bolometric effect, with performance characterized simultaneously by high responsivity, on the scale of hundreds of AW-1, and high speed on the scale of 100s of GHz. Performance evaluation is based on a theory of bolometric effect originating from the band nonparabolicity of graphene. Results compare favorably with the state-of-the-art plasmonic bolometric photodetectors, predicting up to two orders of magnitude increase in a responsivity while keeping speed on the same level, defined by the elect…
We investigate waveguide-integrated plasmonic graphene photodetector operating based on the hot carrier photo-bolometric effect, which is characterized simultaneously by high responsivity on the scale of hundreds of AW-1 and high speed on the scale of 100s of GHz. We develop a theory of bolometric effect originating from the band nonparabolicity of graphene and estimate responsivity due to bolometric effect is shown to significantly surpass the responsivity of co-existing photo-conductive effect thus convincingly demonstrating the dominance of bolometric effect. Based on the theory we propose …
We present a micrometer scale, on-chip integrated, plasmonic enhanced graphene photodetector (GPD) for telecom wavelengths operating at zero dark current. The GPD is designed and optimized to directly generate a photovoltage and has an external responsivity~12.2V/W with a 3dB bandwidth~42GHz. We utilize Au split-gates with a$\sim$100nm gap to electrostatically create a p-n-junction and simultaneously guide a surface plasmon polariton gap-mode. This increases light-graphene interaction and optical absorption and results in an increased electronic temperature and steeper temperature gradient acr…
We present the vertically illuminated Si compatible mid-infrared photodetectors based on graphene that forms negative-index metamaterial. The coupling into a 2D layer at the angles near normal to the surface is negligible without the help of a metamaterial. We propose a low loss metamaterial, the dielectric structure with the nano/microholes through 2D materials that supports a resonance and enhances quantum efficiency in a wide range of incident angles.
We propose an on-chip CMOS compatible graphene plasmonic photodetector based on the photo-thermoelectric effect (PTE) that occurs across an entire homogeneous graphene channel. The proposed photodetector incorporates the long-range dielectric-loaded surface plasmon polariton (LR-DLSPP) waveguide with a metal stripe serving simultaneously as a plasmon supporting metallic material and one of the metal electrodes. Large in-plane component of the transverse magnetic (TM) plasmonic mode can couple efficiently to the graphene causing large temperature increases across an entire graphene channel with…
Graphene-based photodetectors, taking advantage of high carrier mobility and broadband absorption in graphene, have recently experienced rapid development. However, their performances with respect to the responsivity and bandwidth are still limited by either weak light-graphene interaction or large resistance-capacitance product. Here, we demonstrate a waveguide coupled integrated graphene plasmonic photodetector on the silicon-on-insulator platform. Benefiting from plasmonic enhanced graphene-light interactions and subwavelength confinement of the optical energy, we present a small-footprint …
Here, we propose titanium nitride (TiN) as an alternative plasmonic material for an on-chip silicon plasmonic Schottky photodetector that is based on an internal photoemission process and operating at telecom wavelengths. The examined structure employs an asymmetric metal-semiconductor-metal waveguide structure with one of the electrodes being gold and the second either gold, titanium or titanium nitride. Apart from the excellent optical properties desired for this type of photodetector such as high absorption losses and reasonably high real part of the permittivity, titanium nitride is a CMOS…
Graphene has shown great potentials for high-speed photodetection. Yet, the responsivities of graphene-based high-speed photodetectors are commonly limited by the weak effective absorption of atomically thin graphene. Here, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a plasmonically enhanced waveguide-integrated graphene photodetector. The device which combines a 6 micron long layer of graphene with field-enhancing nano-sized metallic structures, demonstrates a high external responsivity of 0.5 A/W and a fast photoresponse way beyond 110 GHz. The high efficiency and fast response of the device e…
Visible and infrared photons can be detected with a broadband response via the internal photoeffect. By using plasmonic nanostructures, i.e. nanoantennas, wavelength selectivity can be introduced to such detectors through geometry-dependent resonances. Also, additional functionality, like electronic responsivity switching and polarization detection have been realized. However, previous devices consisted of large arrays of nanostructures to achieve detectable photocurrents. Here we show that this concept can be scaled down to a single antenna level, resulting in detector dimensions well below t…
Graphene has extraordinary electro-optic properties and is therefore a promising candidate for monolithic photonic devices such as photodetectors. However, the integration of this atom-thin layer material with bulky photonic components usually results in a weak light-graphene interaction leading to large device lengths limiting electro-optic performance. In contrast, here we demonstrate a plasmonic slot graphene photodetector on silicon-on-insulator platform with high-responsivity given the 5 um-short device length. We observe that the maximum photocurrent, and hence the highest responsivity, …
Here we propose a waveguide-integrated germanium plasmonic photodetector that is based on a long-range dielectric-loaded surface plasmon polariton waveguide configuration. As this configuration ensures a long propagation distance, i.e., small absorption into metal, and a good mode field confinement, i.e., high interaction of the electric field with a germanium material, it is perfect for a realization of plasmonic germanium photodetectors. Such a photodetector even without optimization provides a responsivity exceeding 1 A/W for both wavelengths of 1310 nm and 1550 nm. To achieve such a respon…
Deep understanding of plasmonic nanoparticles (PNPs)-light interaction over semiconductors surface shows great promises in enhancing their optoelectronic devices efficiency beyond the conventional limit. However, PNP-light interaction critically decided by the distribution density of PNPs over the semiconductor surface which is not entirely understood. Here, a systematic study depicting how the interparticle gap between Silver (Ag) NPs influences the performance of the \b{eta}-Ga2O3 based solar-blind photodetector. Interestingly, a remarkable transition is observed, where the varied interparti…
We experimentally demonstrate the active control of a plasmonic metamaterial operating in the quantum regime. A two-dimensional metamaterial consisting of unit cells made from gold nanorods is investigated. Using an external laser we control the temperature of the metamaterial and carry out quantum process tomography on single-photon polarization-encoded qubits sent through, characterizing the metamaterial as a variable quantum channel. The overall polarization response can be tuned by up to 33% for particular nanorod dimensions. To explain the results, we develop a theoretical model and find …
A fast silicon-graphene hybrid plasmonic waveguide photodetectors beyond 1.55 μm is proposed and realized by introducing an ultra-thin wide silicon-on-insulator ridge core region with a narrow metal cap. With this novel design, the light absorption in graphene is enhanced while the metal absorption loss is reduced simultaneously, which helps greatly improve the responsivity as well as shorten the absorption region for achieving fast responses. Furthermore, metal-graphene-metal sandwiched electrodes are introduced to reduce the metal-graphene contact resistance, which is also helpful for improv…
Whether dispersal of plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) within a perovskite active layer can increase the efficiency of solar cells is a long-standing question. It is well known that inclusion of metallic NPs in an active layer can boost the surrounding near-field intensity around them owing to the dipolar localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR, also called antenna effect), which can increase light absorption by solar cells. However, the use of plasmonic NPs in perovskite solar cells has been barely reported, and it is not known whether inserting plasmonic NPs into a perovskite active layer prod…
Plasmonic Particle Integration into Near-Infrared Photodetectors and Photoactivated Gas Sensors: Towards Sustainable Next-Generation Ubiquitous Sensing
Double anodization of aluminium microwires in an acid bath yields cylindrical nanoporous alumina with nonbranching radially emanating pores. The obtained nanoporous alumina is a cylindrically anisotropic as well as a radially inhomogeneous optical medium. Detailed structural characterization reveals that the nanopore diameter varies linearly with the radius of the aluminium microwire along the radial direction. Microcracks form on the alumina shell during the anodization when sufficient thickness is formed due to volume expansion and stress accumulation. The formation of the microcracks can be…
Plasmon oscillations have been intensively studied for more than forty years in conventional two-dimensional electron gas systems in order to find new alternatives to the vacuum devices based on the Smith-Purcell effect in the far-infrared region. However, beside the multiple endeavors, up to date, the plasmon generation in semiconductor heterostructures has been very inefficient. Here we demonstrate that the use of high mobility graphene metamaterials, due to their well-known stronger light-plasmon coupling compared to semiconductor materials can significantly improve the efficiency of far-in…
We examine the properties of a gaseous plasma resonator generated by focusing a high-energy laser pulse through a lens and into a gas. An analytical model is presented describing the scattering resonance of these near-ellipsoidal plasmas and its dependence on their eccentricity and intrinsic plasma properties. This dependence is investigated through Ku band transmission experiments of a waveguide with an embedded single plasma element and through optical diagnostics of the laser-induced plasma. The described resonator has the potential to be used as the building block in a new class of metamat…
The interaction of light with subwavelength metallic nano-structures is at the heart of different current scientific hot topics, namely plasmonics, metamaterials and nanoantennas. Research in these disciplines during the last decade has given rise to new, powerful concepts providing an unprecedented degree of control over light manipulation at the nanoscale. However, only recently have these concepts been used to increase the capabilities of light processing in current photonic integrated circuits (PICs), which traditionally rely only on dielectric materials with element sizes larger than the …
Sensing lower molecular weight in a diluted solution using a label-free biosensor is challenging and requires a miniaturized plasmonic structure, e.g., a vertical Au nanorod (AuNR) array based metamaterials. The sensitivity of a sensor mainly depends on transducer properties and hence for instance, the AuNR array geometry requires optimization. Physical vapour deposition methods (e.g., sputtering and e-beam evaporation) require a vacuum environment to deposit Au, which is costly, time-consuming, and thickness-limited. On the other hand, chemical deposition, i.e., electroplating deposit higher …
Driven by a myriad of potential applications such as communications, medical imaging, security, spectroscopy, and so on, terahertz (THz) technology has emerged as a rapidly growing technological field during the last three decades. However, since conventional materials typically used in microwave and optical frequencies are lossy or do not effectively respond at these frequencies, it is essential to find or develop novel materials that are suitable for device applications in the THz range. Therefore, there is wide interest in the community in employing novel naturally-occurring materials, such…
Surface Plasmon Resonance sensors are a well-established class of sensors which includes a very large variety of materials and detection schemes. However, the development of portable devices is still challenging as due to the intrinsic complexity of the optical excitation/detection schemes. In this work we show that Nanoporous gold (NPG) films may overcome these limitations by providing excellent sensitivity without the need of sophisticated fabrication approaches and/or optical setup. The sensing mechanism is related the co-localization of optical energy and analytes into the pores that promo…
Asymmetric-double-bars (ADB) structure is one of the most interesting plasmonic metamaterials that has been broadly investigated. Here we propose to manufacture ADB on top of elastic material, to get direct control to the dimension of ADB elements. To analyze the spectra numerically, simulation by commercial software (COMSOL) are carried out. We successfully modify the characteristic spectra and enhance Q-factor of the peak near infrared by introducing angular and amplitude parameters of the stretching of substrate in the simulation. At the mean time, we significantly restrain red shift in the…
As an analogue of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), plasmon-induced transparency (PIT) has been realized both in plasmonic metamaterial and waveguide structures. Via near-field coupling within unit cells, PIT with broadband could be produced by plasmonic metamaterials, which, however, has not been realized in on-chip plasmonic waveguide structures. Here, we introduce broadband PIT based on a plasmonic metal-insulator-metal (MIM) waveguide system. Utilizing the direct coupling structure, PIT emerges based on an easy-fabricated structure without gap. By tuning coupling distance, th…
We theoretically investigate photothermal heating of ultra-flexible metamaterials, which are obtained by randomly mixing TiN nanoparticles in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Due to the plasmonic properties of TiN nanoparticles, incident light is perfectly absorbed in a broadband range (300-3000 nm) to generate heat within these metamaterials. Under irradiation of an 808 nm near-infrared laser with different intensities, our predicted temperature rises as a function of time agree well with recent experimental data. For a given laser intensity, the temperature rise varies non-monotonically with con…
Plasmonic metamaterials can be used to enhance mid-infrared sensors and detectors for immunosensing applications. The major challenge is to integrate these technologies in low-cost, compact, and promising platforms. In this study, as an emerging approach, we utilized toroidal resonant plasmonic metasurfaces to develop an ultrasensitive label-free analytical platform for the detection of specific antibiotics in the mid-IR regime. Taking advantage of unique sensitivity of robustly squeezed electromagnetic fields in toroidal meta-atoms, we validated that our proposed technique based on toroidal m…
In this thesis various plasmonic materials, such as hyperbolic metamaterial nanohole arrays and Au-coated free standing nanoassembly supporting nanopores, are investigated with the aim to perform optical sensing of DNA molecules with Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy in flow-through configuration.
Plasmon excitations in metallic nanostructures can decay directly into dynamic electron-hole pairs (EHPs), exploitable for photocurrent generation. This approach has extensively been employed to develop nanoplasmonic light-sensing devices with significant responsivity and quantum efficiency. Of particular interest is infrared plasmonic photodetectors with a wide range of technological applications, including spectroscopy, biosensing, and surveillance. This Review discusses fundamentals, recent advances, and trending mechanisms in the understanding and applications of plasmon-enhanced photocurr…
Conventional semiconductors such as silicon and InGaAs based photodetectors have encountered a bottleneck in modern electronics and photonics in terms of spectral coverage, low resolution, non-transparency, non-flexibility and CMOS-incompatibility. New emerging 2D materials such as graphene, TMDs and their hybrid systems thereof, however, can circumvent all these issues benefitting from mechanically flexibility, extraordinary electronic and optical properties, as well as wafer-scale production and integration. Heterojunction-based photodiodes based on 2D materials offer ultrafast and broadband…
Integrating and manipulating the nano-optoelectronic properties of Van der Waals heterostructures can enable unprecedented platforms for photodetection and sensing. The main challenge of infrared photodetectors is to funnel the light into a small nanoscale active area and efficiently convert it into an electrical signal. Here, we overcome all of those challenges in one device, by efficient coupling of a plasmonic antenna to hyperbolic phonon-polaritons in hexagonal-BN to highly concentrate mid-infrared light into a graphene pn-junction. We balance the interplay of the absorption, electrical an…
Free-space circularly polarized light (CPL) detection, requiring polarizers and waveplates, has been well established, while such spatial degree of freedom is unfortunately absent in integrated on-chip optoelectronics. So far, those reported filterless CPL photodetectors suffer from the intrinsic small discrimination ratio, vulnerability to the non-CPL field components, and low responsivity. Here, we report a distinct paradigm of geometric photodetectors in mid-infrared exhibiting colossal discrimination ratio, close-to-perfect CPL-specific response, a zero-bias responsivity of 392 V/W at room…
Complete absorption of electromagnetic waves is paramount in today's applications, ranging from photovoltaics to cross-talk prevention into sensitive devices. In this context, we use a genetic algorithm (GA) strategy to optimize absorption properties of periodic arrays of truncated square-based pyramids made of alternating stacks of metal/dielectric layers. We target ultra-broadband quasi-perfect absorption of normally incident electromagnetic radiations in the visible and near-infrared ranges (wavelength comprised between 420 and 1600 nm). We compare the results one can obtain by considering …
