Efficient electrical detection of mid-infrared graphene plasmons at room temperature

Abstract

Optical excitation and subsequent decay of graphene plasmons can produce a significant increase in charge-carrier temperature. An efficient method to convert this temperature elevation into electrical signals can enable important mid-infrared applications. However, the modest thermoelectric coefficient and weak temperature dependence of carrier transport in graphene hinder this goal. Here, we demonstrate mid-infrared graphene detectors consisting of arrays of plasmonic resonators interconnected by quasi-one-dimensional nanoribbons. Localized barriers associated with disorder in the nanoribbons produce a dramatic temperature dependence of carrier transport, thus enabling the electrical detection of plasmon decay in the nearby graphene resonators. Our device has a subwavelength footprint of 5 × 5 μm and operates at 12.2 μm with an external responsivity of 16 mA W and a low noise-equivalent power of 1.3 nW Hz at room temperature. It is fabricated using large-scale graphene and possesses a simple two-terminal geometry, representing an essential step towards the realization of an on-chip graphene mid-infrared detector array.

Effects of Mid‐Infrared Graphene Plasmons on Photothermal Heating

“…This approximation works well as a / D ≥ 1.5 . We suppose that the accuracy is still acceptable for a / D ≈ 1.29 in our system, which describes the practical graphene detector in previous study where ε 1 = 1, ε 2 = 6.25, ε 3 = 11.56; ω is frequency; and ζ and η are geometric parameters calculated using the lowest‐order dipole plasmon model.…”

“…In this work, we present a theoretical approach to calculate plasmonic properties of graphene‐based nanostructures and temperature distribution in the systems when irradiated by a mid‐infrared laser light. The systems are modeled to be similar to mid‐infrared graphene detectors fabricated by Guo et al These calculations allow us to determine roles of graphene plasmons on the light confinement and heat generation. In addition, the effects of dielectric layers on the temperature gradient are also discussed.…”

“…The numerical results indicate the plasmonic peak for a square lattice of three‐layer‐graphene disks is roughly located at 0.1 eV (≈806 cm −1 ), which quantitatively agrees with experiment in ref. [9]. The presence of graphene plasmons reduces the transmission of electromagnetic fields through these systems.…”

Investigation of Phonon Scattering on the Tunable Mechanisms of Terahertz Graphene Metamaterials

“…Presently, the key disadvantages of plasmonic and MM devices were a lack of tunability of the resonant frequency and large distillation losses. Two-dimensional (2D) materials, such as black phosphorus, transition metal molybdenum disulfide, topological insulators (Bi 2 Ti 3 ), and graphene [13][14][15][16], provided good alternatives for the exploration of novel flexible functional devices. Especially, with the merits of large carrier mobility and its strong interaction with light and pattern structures, as well as versatile tenability [17][18][19][20][21][22], graphene membrane attracted significant interest and have been functionalized as a playground to design novel plasmonic MM devices [23][24][25][26].…”

Tip- and Plasmon-Enhanced Infrared Nanoscopy for Ultrasensitive Molecular Characterizations

“…S7 within the Supplemental Material [45], similar to the device shown in Ref. [59]). Such devices are economically feasible for fabrications based on common lithography methods.…”