Analysis of near-field components of a plasmonic optical antenna and their contribution to quantum dot infrared photodetector enhancement

Abstract

In this paper, we analyze near-field vector components of a metallic circular disk array (MCDA) plasmonic optical antenna and their contribution to quantum dot infrared photodetector (QDIP) enhancement. The near-field vector components of the MCDA optical antenna and their distribution in the QD active region are simulated. The near-field overlap integral with the QD active region is calculated at different wavelengths and compared with the QDIP enhancement spectrum. The x-component (E(x)) of the near-field vector shows a larger intensity overlap integral and stronger correlation with the QDIP enhancement than E(z) and thus is determined to be the major near-field component to the QDIP enhancement.

Angular-dependent photodetection enhancement by a metallic circular disk optical antenna

“…After the MBE growth, the sample was processed into QDIPs with the MCDA optical antenna structure using the standard cleanroom fabrication process reported before. 8,19 Since the interaction of the SPRs with QDs depends on a few important parameters, such as the near-field E-field components, 8 the separation between the plasmonic structures and the QDs, 12 and the E-field polarization dependent selection rules in QDs, 13 the MCDA optical antenna, and the QDIP structures are carefully designed to achieve optimal interaction. The QDIP with the MCDA optical antenna shows higher photocurrent at all incident angles.…”

“…[1][2][3] Various optical antennas have been developed, including metallic nanoparticles, 2,4 bowties, 5 dipoles, 6,7 and metallic circular disk arrays (MCDA). 8,9 Light can be coupled to localized surface plasmonic resonance (LSPR) modes in optical antennas. The LSPR modes are determined by the antenna structures and dimensions.…”

“…19 Such plasmonic mode dependent near-field E-field distribution is critical for infrared sensing and imaging based on low-dimensional materials, such as quantum well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs) and quantum dot infrared photodetectors (QDIPs) 3,[10][11][12] due to the close interaction of near-field E-fields with the low dimensional light sensing materials and quantum selection rule defined photon-electron excitation. 8,13 SPR properties in circular patch optical nanoantennas have been analyzed using Bessel-type of SPR modes, 14 however, plasmonic mode excitation under linearly polarized plane wave incidence and its angular dependence have not been fully explored. 14 The analysis of plasmonic mode excited under plane wave incidence is important in optimizing the optical antenna enhancement in IR detectors and focal plane arrays (FPAs) since plane waves are received in most IR sensing and imaging applications.…”

Analysis of mutual couplings in a concentric circular ring plasmonic optical antenna array

“…Depending on the optical antenna structures, localized surface plasmonic resonance (LSPR) modes 12, 13 can be excited in optical antennas 1–5, 14–16 , which are referred to as plasmonic optical antennas (POAs). POA enhanced quantum dot infrared photodetectors (QDIPs) have been reported with enhanced photocurrents and directional antenna gains 6, 17, 18 . The analysis of the near-field of POAs and their roles in the plasmonic enhancement have also been reported 6 .…”

Surface Plasmonics and Its Applications in Infrared Sensing

“…In addition to SERS, the SPR enhancement technology also provides a promising technique to concentrate EM energy on surface area and thus enables high quantum efficiency with a thin active absorption layer in a photodetector. Significant performance enhancements in a quantum dot infrared photodetector (QDIP) have been reported [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15].…”