Engineering topics

Otsuji, T.

Publications and source records attributed to Otsuji, T..

12 records

DOE OSTI2016

Two-dimensional plasmons in lateral carbon nanotube network structures and their effect on the terahertz radiation detection

We consider the carrier transport and plasmonic phenomena in the lateral carbon nanotube (CNT) networks forming the device channel with asymmetric electrodes. One electrode is the Ohmic contact to the CNT network and the other contact is the Schottky contact. These structures can serve as detectors of the terahertz (THz) radiation. We develop the device model for collective response of the lateral CNT networks which comprise a mixture of randomly oriented semiconductor CNTs (s-CNTs) and quasi-metal CNTs (m-CNTs). The proposed model includes the concept of the collective two-dimensional (2D) plasmons in relatively dense networks of randomly oriented CNTs (CNT “felt”) and predicts the detector responsivity spectral characteristics exhibiting sharp resonant peaks at the signal frequencies corresponding to the 2D plasmonic resonances. The detection mechanism is the rectification of the ac current due the nonlinearity of the Schottky contact current-voltage characteristics under the conditions of a strong enhancement of the potential drop at this contact associated with the plasmon excitation. The detector responsivity depends on the fractions of the s- and m-CNTs. The burning of the near-contact regions of the m-CNTs or destruction of these CNTs leads to a marked increase in the responsivity in agreement with our experimental data. The resonant THz detectors with sufficiently dense lateral CNT networks can compete and surpass other THz detectors using plasmonic effects at room temperatures.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

DOE OSTI2015

Resonant plasmonic terahertz detection in vertical graphene-base hot-electron transistors

We analyze dynamic properties of vertical graphene-base hot-electron transistors (GB-HETs) and consider their operation as detectors of terahertz (THz) radiation using the developed device model. The GB-HET model accounts for the tunneling electron injection from the emitter, electron propagation across the barrier layers with the partial capture into the GB, and the self-consistent oscillations of the electric potential and the hole density in the GB (plasma oscillations), as well as the quantum capacitance and the electron transit-time effects. Using the proposed device model, we calculate the responsivity of GB-HETs operating as THz detectors as a function of the signal frequency, applied bias voltages, and the structural parameters. The inclusion of the plasmonic effect leads to the possibility of the GB-HET operation at the frequencies significantly exceeding those limited by the characteristic RC-time. It is found that the responsivity of GB-HETs with a sufficiently perfect GB exhibits sharp resonant maxima in the THz range of frequencies associated with the excitation of plasma oscillations. The positions of these maxima are controlled by the applied bias voltages. The GB-HETs can compete with and even surpass other plasmonic THz detectors.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

DOE OSTI2015

Superradiant amplification of terahertz radiation by plasmons in inverted graphene with a planar distributed Bragg resonator

It is shown theoretically that stimulated generation of terahertz radiation by plasmons in graphene with a planar distributed Bragg resonator is possible at two different frequencies for each plasmon mode. This behavior may be attributed to the superradiance of the collective plasmon mode, which is associated with superlinear increase in the radiative damping of the plasmons with increase in pumping power. As a result, the curves of the radiative damping and the plasmon gain as a function of the pumping power intersect at two points corresponding to different generation conditions.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

DOE OSTI2015

Negative terahertz conductivity in remotely doped graphene bilayer heterostructures

Injection or optical generation of electrons and holes in graphene bilayers (GBLs) can result in the interband population inversion enabling the terahertz (THz) radiation lasing. The intraband radiative processes compete with the interband transitions. We demonstrate that remote doping enhances the indirect interband generation of photons in the proposed GBL heterostructures. Therefore, such remote doping helps to surpass the intraband (Drude) absorption, and results in large absolute values of the negative dynamic THz conductivity in a wide range of frequencies at elevated (including room) temperatures. The remotely doped GBL heterostructure THz lasers are expected to achieve higher THz gain compared with previously proposed GBL-based THz lasers.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

DOE OSTI2015

Helicity sensitive terahertz radiation detection by dual-grating-gate high electron mobility transistors

We report on the observation of a radiation helicity sensitive photocurrent excited by terahertz (THz) radiation in dual-grating-gate (DGG) InAlAs/InGaAs/InAlAs/InP high electron mobility transistors (HEMT). For a circular polarization, the current measured between source and drain contacts changes its sign with the inversion of the radiation helicity. For elliptically polarized radiation, the total current is described by superposition of the Stokes parameters with different weights. Moreover, by variation of gate voltages applied to individual gratings, the photocurrent can be defined either by the Stokes parameter defining the radiation helicity or those for linear polarization. We show that artificial non-centrosymmetric microperiodic structures with a two-dimensional electron system excited by THz radiation exhibit a dc photocurrent caused by the combined action of a spatially periodic in-plane potential and spatially modulated light. The results provide a proof of principle for the application of DGG HEMT for all-electric detection of the radiation's polarization state.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

DOE OSTI2015

Vertical electron transport in van der Waals heterostructures with graphene layers

We propose and analyze an analytical model for the self-consistent description of the vertical electron transport in van der Waals graphene-layer (GL) heterostructures with the GLs separated by the barriers layers. The top and bottom GLs serve as the structure emitter and collector. The vertical electron transport in such structures is associated with the propagation of the electrons thermionically emitted from GLs above the inter-GL barriers. The model under consideration describes the processes of the electron thermionic emission from and the electron capture to GLs. It accounts for the nonuniformity of the self-consistent electric field governed by the Poisson equation which accounts for the variation of the electron population in GLs. The model takes also under consideration the cooling of electrons in the emitter layer due to the Peltier effect. We find the spatial distributions of the electric field and potential with the high-electric-field domain near the emitter GL in the GL heterostructures with different numbers of GLs. Using the obtained spatial distributions of the electric field, we calculate the current-voltage characteristics. We demonstrate that the Peltier cooling of the two-dimensional electron gas in the emitter GL can strongly affect the current-voltage characteristics resulting in their saturation. The obtained results can be important for the optimization of the hot-electron bolometric terahertz detectors and different devices based on GL heterostructures.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

DOE OSTI2015

Negative terahertz conductivity in disordered graphene bilayers with population inversion

The gapless energy band spectra make the structures based on graphene and graphene bilayer with the population inversion to be promising media for the interband terahertz (THz) lasing. However, a strong intraband absorption at THz frequencies still poses a challenge for efficient THz lasing. In this paper, we show that in the pumped graphene bilayer, the indirect interband radiative transitions accompanied by scattering of carriers by disorder can provide a substantial negative contribution to the THz conductivity (together with the direct interband transitions). In the graphene bilayer on high-κ substrates with point charged defects, these transitions substantially compensate the losses due to the intraband (Drude) absorption. We also demonstrate that the indirect interband contribution to the THz conductivity in a graphene bilayer with the extended defects (such as the charged impurity clusters) can surpass by several times the fundamental limit associated with the direct interband transitions, and the Drude conductivity as well. These predictions can affect the strategy of the graphene-based THz laser implementation.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

DOE OSTI2014

Graphene vertical hot-electron terahertz detectors

We propose and analyze the concept of the vertical hot-electron terahertz (THz) graphene-layer detectors (GLDs) based on the double-GL and multiple-GL structures with the barrier layers made of materials with a moderate conduction band off-set (such as tungsten disulfide and related materials). The operation of these detectors is enabled by the thermionic emissions from the GLs enhanced by the electrons heated by incoming THz radiation. Hence, these detectors are the hot-electron bolometric detectors. The electron heating is primarily associated with the intraband absorption (the Drude absorption). In the frame of the developed model, we calculate the responsivity and detectivity as functions of the photon energy, GL doping, and the applied voltage for the GLDs with different number of GLs. The detectors based on the cascade multiple-GL structures can exhibit a substantial photoelectric gain resulting in the elevated responsivity and detectivity. The advantages of the THz detectors under consideration are associated with their high sensitivity to the normal incident radiation and efficient operation at room temperature at the low end of the THz frequency range. Such GLDs with a metal grating, supporting the excitation of plasma oscillations in the GL-structures by the incident THz radiation, can exhibit a strong resonant response at the frequencies of several THz (in the range, where the operation of the conventional detectors based on A{sub 3}B{sub 5} materials, in particular, THz quantum-well detectors, is hindered due to a strong optical phonon radiation absorption in such materials). We also evaluate the characteristics of GLDs in the mid- and far-infrared ranges where the electron heating is due to the interband absorption in GLs.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

DOE OSTI2014

Current-driven detection of terahertz radiation using a dual-grating-gate plasmonic detector

We report on the detection of terahertz radiation by an on-chip planar asymmetric plasmonic structure in the frequency region above one terahertz. The detector is based on a field-effect transistor that has a dual grating gate structure with an asymmetric unit cell, which provides a geometrical asymmetry within the structure. Biasing the detector with a dc source-to-drain current in the linear region of the current-voltage characteristic introduces an additional asymmetry (electrical asymmetry) that enhances the detector responsivity by more than one order of magnitude (by a factor of 20) as compared with the unbiased case due to the cooperative effect of the geometrical and electrical asymmetries. In addition to the responsivity enhancement, we report a relatively low noise equivalent power and a peculiar non-monotonic dependence of the responsivity on the frequency, which results from the multi-plasmonic-cavity structure of the device.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2014

Ultrahigh sensitive sub-terahertz detection by InP-based asymmetric dual-grating-gate high-electron-mobility transistors and their broadband characteristics

We report on room-temperature plasmonic detection of sub-terahertz radiation by InAlAs/InGaAs/InP high electron mobility transistors with an asymmetric dual-grating-gate structure. Maximum responsivities of 22.7 kV/W at 200 GHz and 21.5 kV/W at 292 GHz were achieved under unbiased drain-to-source condition. The minimum noise equivalent power was estimated to be 0.48 pW/Hz{sup 0.5} at 200 GHz at room temperature, which is the record-breaking value ever reported for plasmonic THz detectors. Frequency dependence of the responsivity in the frequency range of 0.2–2 THz is in good agreement with the theory.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

DOE OSTI2014

Voltage-tunable terahertz and infrared photodetectors based on double-graphene-layer structures

We propose and theoretically substantiate the concept of terahertz and infrared photodetectors using the resonant radiative transitions between graphene layers (GLs) in double-GL structures. The calculated absorption spectrum and the spectral characteristics of the photodetector responsivity exhibit sharp resonant maxima at the photon energies in a wide range. The resonant maxima can be tuned by the applied voltage. We compare the photodetector responsivity with that of the GL p-i-n photodiodes and quantum-well infrared photodetectors. Weak temperature dependences of the photocurrent and dark current enable the effective operation of the proposed photodetector at room temperature.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2014

Surface-plasmons lasing in double-graphene-layer structures

We consider the concept of injection terahertz lasers based on double-graphene-layer (double-GL) structures with metal surface-plasmon waveguide and study the conditions of their operation. The laser under consideration exploits the resonant radiative transitions between GLs. This enables the double-GL laser room temperature operation and the possibility of voltage tuning of the emission spectrum. We compare the characteristics of the double-GL lasers with the metal surface-plasmon waveguides with those of such laser with the metal-metal waveguides.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗