Abstract-The Route to Nanoscale Terahertz Technology: Nanowire-based Terahertz Detectors and Terahertz Modulators

Jessica L Boland, Kun Peng, Sarwat Baig, Diamshid Damry, Patrick Parkinson, Lan Fu, Hark Hoe Tan,  

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8510319

In this work, we demonstrate novel THz detectors and modulators based on semiconductor nanowires. We show that single nanowire PC THz receivers exhibit excellent sensitivity, high SNR of 40, and a broad detection bandwidth up to 2 THz, comparable to the bulk InP PC receivers. We also demonstrate ultrafast THz modulation by GaAs nanowire polarisers with a less than 5ps switching time and a modulation depth of -8dB, We show an extinction of over 13% and dynamic range of -9dB, comparable to microsecond-switchable graphene- and metamaterial-based THz modulators.

Abstract-Engineering semiconductor nanowires for photodetection: from visible to terahertz

Hannah J. Joyce,  Jack Alexander-Webber, Kun Peng,  Michael B. Johnston, Patrick Parkinson,  H. Hoe Tan, C. Jagadish

https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/conference-proceedings-of-spie/10729/1072909/Engineering-semiconductor-nanowires-for-photodetection-from-visible-to-terahertz/10.1117/12.2320715.short

III–V semiconductor nanowires combine the properties of III–V materials with the unique advantages of the nanowire geometry, allowing efficient room temperature photodetection across a wide range of photon energies, from a few eV down to meV. For example, due to their nanoscale size, these show great promise as sub-wavelength terahertz (THz) detectors for near-field imaging or detecting elements within a highly integrated on-chip THz spectrometer. We discuss recent advances in engineering a number of sensitive photonic devices based on III–V nanowires, including InAs nanowires with tunable photoresponse, THz polarisers and THz detectors.

Abstract-Broad Band Phase Sensitive Single InP Nanowire Photoconductive Terahertz Detectors

Kun Peng, Patrick Parkinson, Jessica L. Boland, Qian Gao, Yesaya C. Wenas, Christopher Davies, Ziyuan Li, Lan Fu, Michael B Johnston, Hark Hoe Tan, and Chennupati Jagadish

Nano Lett., Just Accepted Manuscript

DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b01528

Publication Date (Web): July 14, 2016

Copyright © 2016 American Chemical Society

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b01528
Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) has emerged as a powerful tool for materials characterization and imaging. A trend towards size reduction, higher component integration and performance improvement for advanced THz-TDS systems is of increasing interest. The use of single semiconducting nanowires for terahertz (THz) detection is a nascent field that has great potential to realize future highly-integrated THz systems. In order to develop such components, optimized material optoelectronic properties and careful device design are necessary. Here, we present antenna-optimized photoconductive detectors based on single InP nanowires with superior properties of high carrier mobility (∽1260 cm2V-1s-1) and low dark current (∼10 pA), which exhibit excellent sensitivity and broadband performance. We demonstrate that these nanowire THz detectors can provide high quality time-domain spectra for materials characterization in a THz-TDS system, a critical step towards future application in advanced THz-TDS system with high spectral and spatial resolution.

Abstract-Single Nanowire Photoconductive Terahertz Detectors

Kun Peng , Patrick Parkinson , Lan Fu , Qiang Gao , Nian Jiang , Yanan Guo , Fan Wang , Hannah J Joyce , Jessica L Boland , Hark Hoe Tan , Chennupati Jagadish , and Michael B Johnston

Nano Lett., Just Accepted Manuscript

DOI: 10.1021/nl5033843

Publication Date (Web): December 9, 2014

Copyright © 2014 American Chemical Society

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nl5033843

Spectroscopy and imaging in the terahertz (THz) region of the electromagnetic spectrum has proven to provide important insights in fields as diverse as chemical analysis, materials characterization, security screening and non-destructive testing. However, compact optoelectronics suited to the most powerful terahertz technique – time-domain spectroscopy – are lacking. Here, we implement single GaAs nanowires as microscopic coherent THz sensors and for the first time incorporated them into the pulsed time-domain technique. We also demonstrate the functionality of the single nanowire THz detector as a spectrometer by using it to measure the transmission spectrum of a 290 GHz low pass filter. Thus nanowires are shown to be well suited for THz device applications, and hold particular promise as near-field terahertz sensors.