Giant enhancement of silicon plasmonic SWIR photodetection using nanoscale self-organised metallic films
arXiv:1909.12675 · doi:10.1364/OPTICA.379549
Abstract
Many consumer technologies and scientific methods rely on photodetection of infrared light. We report a Schottky photodetector operating below silicon's band gap energy, through hot carrier injection from a nanoscale metallic absorber. Our design relies on simple CMOS-compatible 'bottom up' fabrication of fractally nanostructured aluminium films. Due to the fractal nature of the nanostructuring, the aluminium films support plasmonically enhanced absorption over a wide wavelength range. We demonstrate two orders of magnitude improvements of responsivity, noise-equivalent-power, and detectivity as compared to bulk metal, over a broad spectral and angular range. We attribute this to momentum relaxation processes from the nanoscale fractal geometry. Specifically, we demonstrate a direct link between quantum efficiency enhancement and structural parameters such as perimeter to surface ratio. Finally, our devices also function as bulk refractive index sensors. Our approach is a promising candidate for future cost effective and robust short wave infrared photodetection and sensing applications.
18 pages, 5 figures. Supplementary materials available upon request