Impact of optical antennas on active optoelectronic devices

Abstract

Remarkable progress has been made in the fabrication and characterization of optical antennas that are integrated with optoelectronic devices. Herein, we describe the fundamental reasons for and experimental evidence of the dramatic improvements that can be achieved by enhancing the light-matter interaction via an optical antenna in both photon-emitting and -detecting devices. In addition, integration of optical antennas with optoelectronic devices can lead to the realization of highly compact multifunctional platforms for future integrated photonics, such as low-cost lab-on-chip systems. In this review paper, we further focus on the effect of optical antennas on the detectivity of infrared photodetectors. One particular finding is that the antenna can have a dual effect on the specific detectivity, while it can elevate light absorption efficiency of sub-wavelength detectors, it can potentially increase the noise of the detectors due to the enhanced spontaneous emission rate. In particular, we predict that the detectivity of interband photon detectors can be negatively affected by the presence of optical antennas across a wide wavelength region covering visible to long wavelength infrared bands. In contrast, the detectivity of intersubband detectors could be generally improved with a properly designed optical antenna.

Testbeds for Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Photonics: Efficacy of Light Emission Enhancement in Monomer vs Dimer Nanoscale Antennae

“…A comparison of the far field (scattering efficiency of disk antenna) and near-field spectra (electric field enhancement) of individual Au nanodiscs ( Figure S1, S2, S3) shows that the farfield scattering efficiency peaks at a larger nanoparticle size than the near-field intensity enhancement. Consequently, one should acknowledge that maximum scattering efficiency is not synonymous with highest near-field enhancement as claimed also in previous studies [44][45][46].…”

Surface-plasmon-polariton–assisted dissipative backaction cooling and amplification

“…However unlike Fig.2 which shows that the plasmonic structure is located in the far field of the exit-aperture, here it is in the near field of the aperture. On the other hand, the microsphere acts as a dielectric antenna [36,37] placed at the near-field of the plasmonic structure [38] to increase the optical cross section of the plasmonic structure. As illustrated in Fig.…”

Three-dimensional THz lumped-circuit resonators

“…Metamaterials rely on arrays of miniature circuit-resonators, such as split-rings, that can confine the electromagnetic field into sub-wavelength volumes [1], down to nanometer sizes [2][3][4]. This property allows highly efficient surface sensing [5][6][7], very low-dark current quantum detectors [8][9][10], modulators [11] and new schemes for exploring the ultra-strong light-matter interaction [3,[12][13][14]. The majority of meta-materials, regardless their operation frequency are obtained by using a two-dimensional planar technology [3,14,15].…”

“…As a result, the inductive and the capacitive parts can be adjusted independently for a fixed THz frequency of operation, similarly to the case of lumped element electronic circuits [21]. Three-dimensional resonators based on this design have been demonstrated across the whole THz range (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20). This architecture allows for ultra-sub-wavelength electric field confinement in a dielectric core, opening new possibilities for advanced opto-electronic devices, such as emitters [18,22] and detectors of infrared radiation, based on a single quantum object [23].…”