Gayduchenko, I., Fedorov, G., Titova, N., Moskotin, M., Obraztsova, E., Rybin, M., et al. (2018). Towards to the development of THz detectors based on carbon nanostructures. In J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. (Vol. 1092, 012039 (1 to 4)).
Abstract: Demand for efficient terahertz radiation detectors resulted in intensive study of the carbon nanostructures as possible solution for that problem. In this work we investigate the response to sub-terahertz radiation of detectors with sensor elements based on CVD graphene as well as its derivatives – carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The devices are made in configuration of field effect transistors (FET) with asymmetric source and drain (vanadium and gold) contacts and operate as lateral Schottky diodes. We show that at 300K semiconducting CNTs show better performance up to 300GHz with responsivity up to 100V/W, while quasi-metallic CNTs are shown to operate up to 2.5THz. At 300 K graphene detector exhibit the room-temperature responsivity from R = 15 V/W at f = 129 GHz to R = 3 V/W at f = 450 GHz. We find that at low temperatures (77K) the graphene lateral Schottky diodes responsivity rises with the increasing frequency of the incident sub-THz radiation. We interpret this result as a manifestation of a plasmonic effect in the devices with the relatively long plasmonic wavelengths. The obtained data allows for determination of the most promising directions of development of the technology of nanocarbon structures for the detection of THz radiation.
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Gayduchenko, I., Xu, S. G., Alymov, G., Moskotin, M., Tretyakov, I., Taniguchi, T., et al. (2021). Tunnel field-effect transistors for sensitive terahertz detection. Nat. Commun., 12(1), 543.
Abstract: The rectification of electromagnetic waves to direct currents is a crucial process for energy harvesting, beyond-5G wireless communications, ultra-fast science, and observational astronomy. As the radiation frequency is raised to the sub-terahertz (THz) domain, ac-to-dc conversion by conventional electronics becomes challenging and requires alternative rectification protocols. Here, we address this challenge by tunnel field-effect transistors made of bilayer graphene (BLG). Taking advantage of BLG's electrically tunable band structure, we create a lateral tunnel junction and couple it to an antenna exposed to THz radiation. The incoming radiation is then down-converted by the tunnel junction nonlinearity, resulting in high responsivity (>4 kV/W) and low-noise (0.2 pW/[Formula: see text]) detection. We demonstrate how switching from intraband Ohmic to interband tunneling regime can raise detectors' responsivity by few orders of magnitude, in agreement with the developed theory. Our work demonstrates a potential application of tunnel transistors for THz detection and reveals BLG as a promising platform therefor.
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Ryzhii, V., Otsuji, T., Ryzhii, M., Leiman, V. G., Fedorov, G., Goltzman, G. N., et al. (2016). Two-dimensional plasmons in lateral carbon nanotube network structures and their effect on the terahertz radiation detection. J. Appl. Phys., 120(4), 044501 (1 to 13).
Abstract: We consider the carrier transport and plasmonic phenomena in the lateral carbon nanotube (CNT) networks forming the device channel with asymmetric electrodes. One electrode is the Ohmic contact to the CNT network and the other contact is the Schottky contact. These structures can serve as detectors of the terahertz (THz) radiation. We develop the device model for collective response of the lateral CNT networks which comprise a mixture of randomly oriented semiconductor CNTs (s-CNTs) and quasi-metal CNTs (m-CNTs). The proposed model includes the concept of the collective two-dimensional (2D) plasmons in relatively dense networks of randomly oriented CNTs (CNT “felt”) and predicts the detector responsivity spectral characteristics exhibiting sharp resonant peaks at the signal frequencies corresponding to the 2D plasmonic resonances. The detection mechanism is the rectification of the ac current due the nonlinearity of the Schottky contact current-voltage characteristics under the conditions of a strong enhancement of the potential drop at this contact associated with the plasmon excitation. The detector responsivity depends on the fractions of the s- and m-CNTs. The burning of the near-contact regions of the m-CNTs or destruction of these CNTs leads to a marked increase in the responsivity in agreement with our experimental data. The resonant THz detectors with sufficiently dense lateral CNT networks can compete and surpass other THz detectors using plasmonic effects at room temperatures.
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Dube, I., Jiménez, D., Fedorov, G., Boyd, A., Gayduchenko, I., Paranjape, M., et al. (2015). Understanding the electrical response and sensing mechanism of carbon-nanotube-based gas sensors. Carbon, 87, 330–337.
Abstract: Gas sensors based on carbon nanotube field effect transistors (CNFETs) have outstanding sensitivity compared to existing technologies. However, the lack of understanding of the sensing mechanism has greatly hindered progress on calibration standards and customization of these nano-sensors. Calibration requires identifying fundamental transistor parameters and establishing how they vary in the presence of a gas. This work focuses on modeling the electrical response of CNTFETs in the presence of oxidizing (NO2) and reducing (NH3) gases and determining how the transistor characteristics are affected by gas-induced changes of contact properties, such as the Schottky barrier height and width, and by the doping level of the nanotube. From the theoretical fits of the experimental transfer characteristics at different concentrations of NO2 and NH3, we find that the CNTFET response can be modeled by introducing changes in the Schottky barrier height. These changes are directly related to the changes in the metal work function of the electrodes that we determine experimentally, independently, with a Kelvin probe. Our analysis yields a direct correlation between the ON – current and the changes in the electrode metal work function. Doping due to molecules adsorbed at the carbon-nanotube/metal interface also affects the transfer characteristics.
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