We demonstrated experimentally that an optical frequency signal can be detected through surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) using an optical heterodyne technique. We fabricated an SPP detector consisting of a Au/Si Schottky diode with seven 10-μm-long and 150-nm-wide parallel slits (a multi-slit grating). When two beams of light with slightly different wavelengths irradiated the multi-slit grating of the SPP detector, a beat signal, corresponding to the optical frequency signal, was clearly observed.
Light detection enhanced by surface plasmons was confirmed in Au film/n-type Si Schottky structures. Electrons excited directly with light in Au film overflowed into the n-type silicon, and this excitation was enhanced by surface plasmons induced by Au nanorods attached to the Au film. Excitation was clearly observed in a wavelength range corresponding to the energy of less than the band gap of silicon. The feasibility of Schottky-type photodiodes, in which electrons were never generated by absorption in semiconductors but directly excited in metal, was experimentally demonstrated.
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