title: A Rapid Response Thin-Film Plasmonic-Thermoelectric Light Detector.
abstract: Light detection and quantification is fundamental to the functioning of a broad palette of technologies. While expensive avalanche photodiodes and superconducting bolometers are examples of detectors achieving single-photon sensitivity and time resolutions down to the picosecond range, thermoelectric-based photodetectors are much more affordable alternatives that can be used to measure substantially higher levels of light power (few kW/cm2). However, in thermoelectric detectors, achieving broadband or wavelength-selective performance with high sensitivity and good temporal resolution requires careful design of the absorbing element. Here, combining the high absorptivity and low heat capacity of a nanoengineered plasmonic thin-film absorber with the robustness and linear response of a thermoelectric sensor, we present a hybrid detector for visible and near-infrared light achieving response times of the order of 100 milliseconds, almost four times shorter than the same thermoelectric device covered with a conventional absorber. Furthermore, we show an almost two times higher light-to-electricity efficiency upon replacing the conventional absorber with a plasmonic absorber. With these improvements, which are direct results of the efficiency and ultra-small thickness of the plasmonic absorber, this hybrid detector constitutes an ideal component for various medium-intensity light sensing applications requiring spectrally tailored absorption coatings with either broadband or narrowband characteristics.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Thermodynamics in Emerging Technologies, Institute of Energy Technology, Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zürich, CH-8092 Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Thermodynamics in Emerging Technologies, Institute of Energy Technology, Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zürich, CH-8092 Zürich, Switzerland.|Thomas J. Watson Sr Laboratories of Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena 91125, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Giulia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tagliabue
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Thermodynamics in Emerging Technologies, Institute of Energy Technology, Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zürich, CH-8092 Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Hadi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Eghlidi
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Thermodynamics in Emerging Technologies, Institute of Energy Technology, Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zürich, CH-8092 Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Höller
authors.affiliation: greenTEG AG, Technoparkstrasse 1, 8005 Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dröscher
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Thermodynamics in Emerging Technologies, Institute of Energy Technology, Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zürich, CH-8092 Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Guo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Thermodynamics in Emerging Technologies, Institute of Energy Technology, Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zürich, CH-8092 Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Dimos
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Poulikakos