Zero-power infrared digitizers based on plasmonically enhanced micromechanical photoswitches

Qian, Zhenyun; Kang, Sungho; Rajaram, Vageeswar; Cassella, Cristian; McGruer, N.E.; Rinaldi, Matteo

doi:10.1038/nnano.2017.147

Cited by 120 publications

(95 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Active temperature compensation involves an active temperature feedback to the transducer's signal processing circuit in order to compensate for the temperature drift. Recently, Rinaldi [23] and Mastrangelo [24] used self-levelling beams in order to achieve temperature compensation in micromachined sensors. In our proposed tunneling hygrometer, we achieve passive temperature compensation by using a non-differential polymer expansion design when exposed to temperature fluctuations.…”

Section: Temperature Response Of the Device And Passive Temperature Cmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantum Tunneling Hygrometer with Temperature Stabilized Nanometer Gap

Banerjee

Likhite

Kim

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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We present the design, fabrication and response of a humidity sensor based on electrical tunneling through temperature-stabilized nanometer gaps. The sensor consists of two stacked metal electrodes separated by ~2.5 nm of vertical air gap. Upper and lower electrodes rest on separate 1.5 μm thick polyimide patches with nearly identical thermal expansion but different gas absorption characteristics. When exposed to a humidity change, the patch under the bottom electrode swells but the patch under the top electrode does not, as it is covered with a watervapor diffusion barrier ~8 nm of Al2O3. The air gap thus decreases leading to increase in the tunneling current across the junction. The gap however is independent of temperature fluctuations as both patches expand or contract by near equal amounts. Humidity sensor action demonstrates an unassisted reversible resistance reduction Rmax/Rmin ~10 5 when the device is exposed to 20 -90 RH% at a standby DC power consumption of ~0.4 pW. The observed resistance change when subject to a temperature sweep of 25 -60° C @24% RH was ~0.0025% of the full device output range.

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Section: Temperature Response Of the Device And Passive Temperature Cmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantum Tunneling Hygrometer with Temperature Stabilized Nanometer Gap

Banerjee

Likhite

Kim

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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“…Furthermore, moving from 2D metasurfaces to 3D metamaterials, enhanced EM properties like novel resonance mode, giant chirality, and 3D manipulation reinforce the application in biochemical and physical sensors as well as functional meta‐devices. In this article, a roadmap of the development of MEMS metamaterials in functional devices, chemical sensors, and physical sensors is summarized. ( Figure ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Later in 2017, an optomechanical THz detector with SRR metamaterial absorber was reported . In addition to radiation detection, metamaterial was also utilized in a zero‐power MEMS switch . By further combining MEMS tunability and metamaterial's unique EM property, logic gate and tunable waveplate were demonstrated in 2018 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leveraging of MEMS Technologies for Optical Metamaterials Applications

Ren

Chang

et al. 2019

Advanced Optical Materials

167

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Tunable metamaterial devices have experienced explosive growth in the past decades, driving the traditional electromagnetic (EM) devices to evolve into diversified functionalities by manipulating EM properties such as amplitude, frequency, phase, polarization, and propagation direction. However, one of the bottlenecks of these rapidly developed metamaterials technologies is limited tunability caused by the intrinsic frequency‐dependent property of exotic tunable material. To overcome such limitation, the microelectromechanical system (MEMS) enabling micro/nanoscale manipulation is developed to actively control “meta‐atom” in terahertz and infrared region, which brings frequency‐scalable tunability and complementary metal‐oxide‐semiconductor‐compatible functional meta‐devices. Beyond tunability, novel chemical sensing platforms of molecular identification and dynamic monitoring of the biochemical process can be achieved by integrating micro/nanofluidics channels with metamaterial resonators. Additionally, incorporating metamaterial absorbers with MEMS resonators brings another research interest in MEMS zero‐power devices and radiation sensors. Furthermore, moving from 2D metasurfaces to 3D metamaterials, enhanced EM properties like novel resonance mode, giant chirality, and 3D manipulation reinforce the application in biochemical and physical sensors as well as functional meta‐devices, paving the way to realize multi‐functional sensing and signal processing on a hybrid smart‐sensor microsystem for booming healthcare, environmental monitoring, and the Internet of Things applications.

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“…On the other hand, thermal detectors that utilize the temperature-induced changes in material properties are less expensive, more power efficient, and compatible with room temperature operations. Up to date, several uncooled thermal detectors have been demonstrated based on pyroelectricity [5][6][7], thermoelectricity [8][9][10], conductivity [11][12][13][14], piezoelectricity [15], optical resonance [16], mechanical deflection [17,18], etc. Thermo-mechanical detectors rely on the structural deformation upon exposure to radiation.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Plasmo-thermomechanical radiation detector with on-chip optical readout

Zhao¹,

Khan²,

Farzinazar³

et al. 2018

Opt. Express

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Plasmonic structures have long proved their capabilities to concentrate and manipulate light in micro-and nano-scales that facilitate strong light-matter interactions. Besides electromagnetic properties, ultra-small plasmonic structures may lead to novel applications based on their mechanical properties. Here we report efficient coupling between optical absorption and mechanical deformation in nanoscales through plasmonically enhanced fishbone nanowires. Using tailorable absorbers, free-space radiation energy is converted into heat to thermally actuate the suspended nanowires whose deformation is sensed by the evanescent fields from a waveguide. The demonstration at 660 nm wavelength with above 30% absorption shows the potential of the device to detect nW/√Hz power in an uncooled environment. IntroductionThe fundamental mechanism of infrared detection is energy transduction from the electromagnetic domain to others. Depending on the energy transduction mechanism, most of the infrared detectors can be classified as either photon detection or thermal sensing [1]. The semiconductor-based photonic detectors [2][3][4] have the advantages of high signal-to-noise ratio and fast response time. However, these advantages come at the expense of bulkiness, high cost, and power-inefficiency due to the use of cryogenic cooling. On the other hand, thermal detectors that utilize the temperature-induced changes in material properties are less expensive, more power efficient, and compatible with room temperature operations. Up to date, several uncooled thermal detectors have been demonstrated based on pyroelectricity [5][6][7], thermoelectricity [8][9][10], conductivity [11][12][13][14], piezoelectricity [15], optical resonance [16], mechanical deflection [17,18], etc. Thermo-mechanical detectors rely on the structural deformation upon exposure to radiation. As structure sizes go into nanoscales, finding an efficient light concentrator that can generate enough temperature gradient in subwavelength dimensions becomes one of the fundamental challenges. Fortunately, the plasmonic structures address this challenge by enhancing the light-matter interaction and boosting the absorption [19,20] in nanoscales. Another challenge lies in converting the tiny mechanical deflection into a measurable quantity. In doing so, optical approaches often utilize trigonometry [21,22] and interferometry [23,24] to amplify the displacement. However, these optical systems require discrete bulky lenses and detectors, hence they are difficult to miniaturize. Therefore, it is highly desirable to have efficient actuation in plasmonic nanomechanical structures with compact and sensitive on-chip transduction [25-27] and on-chip optical readout.

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Zero-power infrared digitizers based on plasmonically enhanced micromechanical photoswitches

Cited by 120 publications

References 29 publications

Quantum Tunneling Hygrometer with Temperature Stabilized Nanometer Gap

Quantum Tunneling Hygrometer with Temperature Stabilized Nanometer Gap

Leveraging of MEMS Technologies for Optical Metamaterials Applications

Plasmo-thermomechanical radiation detector with on-chip optical readout

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