Abstract-Semiconductor superlattice diodes for detection of terahertz photons: The role of hybridization of the plasma and polar-optical phonon modes

Anatoly A. Ignatov^1,2,a)
 HIDE AFFILIATION
1 Institute for Physics of Microstructures, RAS, GSP-105, Nizhny Novgorod 603950, Russia
2 Department of Radio-Physics, University of Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod 603950, Russia
a) Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Electronic mail: ign@ipm.sci-nnov.ru
J. Appl. Phys. 116, 084506 (2014); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4894086
http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/jap/116/8/10.1063/1.4894086

The current (voltage) responsivity of a superlattice-based diode detector has been studied theoretically in the terahertz frequency band that includes the region of the polar-optical phononfrequencies. Within the framework of an equivalent circuit approach, the electro-dynamical model which allows one to analyze the responsivity taking into account the hybridization of the plasma and polar-optical phonon modes both in the substrate and in the cladding layers of the diode has been suggested. It has been shown that the presence of the plasma and polar-optical phononmodes gives rise to strong features in the frequency dependence of the responsivity, i.e., to the resonance dips and peaks at frequencies of hybridized plasmons and polar-optical phonons. It has been suggested that by judicious engineering of the superlattice-based diodes, it would be possible to enhance substantially their responsivity in the terahertz frequency band.