Room Temperature Tunable Plasmonic-Enhanced Graphene Terahertz Photodetectors

目的：这项研究旨在开发一种新型的石墨烯光电探测器，该光电探测器在室温下工作，并利用等离子体共振在整个太赫兹光谱范围内实现可调光谱灵敏度。智力优势：石墨烯是一种独特的二维材料，具有改变太赫兹和红外光子学领域的潜力。 有利的热电传输特性，包括低比热和弱的电子-声子相互作用，允许在石墨烯器件中进行灵敏的检测和超快的响应时间。 虽然单层石墨烯可以产生小的但可测量的光吸收，但结构化的石墨烯膜可以支持集体等离子体激元激发，其在可以通过施加栅极电压电调谐的谐振频率下显示出大得多的光吸收。 本文提出的器件概念可以实现可调室温灵敏度和噪声性能，比现有探测器技术高上级几个数量级，从而推动太赫兹光子学的变革性进步。实用的室温太赫兹光电探测可能在从制药开发到国土安全和医学成像的许多关键领域产生深远的影响，并可能刺激强大的太赫兹技术的发展。此外，我们提议开展一项新的外联活动，向发展中国家的青年科学家介绍先进信号恢复的新的经济技术。

Objective: The proposed research seeks to develop a new type of graphene photodetector that operates at room temperature and exploits plasmonic resonances to achieve tunable spectral sensitivity throughout the terahertz spectral regime.Intellectual Merit: Graphene is a unique two-dimensional material that has the potential to transform the field of terahertz and infrared photonics. Favorable thermoelectric transport properties, including low specific heat and weak electron-phonon interaction allow for sensitive detection and ultrafast response time in graphene devices. While a single layer of graphene can yield a small, but measurable photoabsorption, structured graphene films can support collective plasmonic excitations that show a far greater photoabsorption, at a resonance frequency that can be electrically tuned through the application of a gate voltage. The device concept proposed here could lead to a transformative advances in terahertz photonics, by enabling tunable room-temperature sensitivity and noise performance that is orders of magnitude superior to existing detector technologies.Broader Impact: Practical room temperature terahertz photodetection could have far reaching impact in a number of key sectors ranging from pharmaceutical development to homeland security and medical imaging, and could spur the development of a robust terahertz technology. Furthermore, we propose a new outreach activity that would introduce young scientists from developing countries to new economical techniques for advanced signal recovery.