title: Room-temperature terahertz detectors based on semiconductor nanowire field-effect transistors.
abstract: The growth of semiconductor nanowires (NWs) has recently opened new paths to silicon integration of device families such as light-emitting diodes, high-efficiency photovoltaics, or high-responsivity photodetectors. It is also offering a wealth of new approaches for the development of a future generation of nanoelectronic devices. Here we demonstrate that semiconductor nanowires can also be used as building blocks for the realization of high-sensitivity terahertz detectors based on a 1D field-effect transistor configuration. In order to take advantage of the low effective mass and high mobilities achievable in III-V compounds, we have used InAs nanowires, grown by vapor-phase epitaxy, and properly doped with selenium to control the charge density and to optimize source-drain and contact resistance. The detection mechanism exploits the nonlinearity of the transfer characteristics: the terahertz radiation field is fed at the gate-source electrodes with wide band antennas, and the rectified signal is then read at the output in the form of a DC drain voltage. Significant responsivity values (>1 V/W) at 0.3 THz have been obtained with noise equivalent powers (NEP) < 2 × 10(-9) W/(Hz)(1/2) at room temperature. The large existing margins for technology improvements, the scalability to higher frequencies, and the possibility of realizing multipixel arrays, make these devices highly competitive as a future solution for terahertz detection.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Fisica Applicata Nello Carrara - CNR, Via Madonna del Piano 1, Sesto Fiorentino, I-50019 Italy. miriam.vitiello@sns.it
authors.forename: Miriam S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Vitiello
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Coquillat
authors.forename: Leonardo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Viti
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ercolani
authors.forename: Frederic
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Teppe
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pitanti
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Beltram
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sorba
authors.forename: Wojciech
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Knap
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tredicucci
mesh_terms: D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011874:Radiometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D013696:Temperature; D055053:Terahertz Radiation; D014173:Transistors, Electronic