Lightsabers (“laster swords”) for improving photodetector speed and responsivity

I. Hasan, J. Simpson
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Abstract

The micrometer scale of optics is significantly larger than the nanometer scale of modern electronic devices. To produce photodiodes yielding both superior speed and responsivity, a critical challenge is to confine the incident light efficiently to an active region having a small (subwavelength) area. In recent years, plasmonics has been applied as a means to confine light to subwavelength areas. In this case, the plasmonic structure converts the incident (far-field) light into near fields in order to achieve the sub-wavelength confinement. However, the surface plasmons are a near-field phenomenon such that the electromagnetic energy does not penetrate deeply. Further, surface plasmon resonances are generated only over narrow range of frequencies. Thus, the question arises: can we avoid the conversion to near fields and propagate the light into the semiconductor over a sub-wavelength area? When desired, can we propagate broadband electromagnetic energy into the sub-wavelength area to provide efficient broadband photodiodes? The latter may especially be desirable if the common silicon semiconductor is replaced with a more broadband semiconductor such as graphene. Here, it is proposed that a propagating sub-wavelength beam of light called a photonic nanojet and resembling a lightsaber or “laser sword” can be used to focus light onto the small active area of a photodiode. Exploratory three-dimensional, Maxwell's equations finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations are conducted and demonstrate that the nanojets can confine light to an area comparable to a nanostructured dipole antenna while propagating multiple wavelengths into the semiconductor, even over a broad range of frequencies when desirable.
光剑(“激光剑”)用于提高光电探测器的速度和响应
光学的微米尺度明显大于现代电子器件的纳米尺度。为了生产速度和响应性都更好的光电二极管,一个关键的挑战是将入射光有效地限制在具有小(亚波长)区域的有源区域。近年来,等离子体已被用作一种将光限制在亚波长区域的手段。在这种情况下,等离子体结构将入射(远场)光转换为近场,以实现亚波长限制。然而,表面等离子体是一种近场现象,因此电磁能量不能深入穿透。此外,表面等离子体共振仅在狭窄的频率范围内产生。因此,问题出现了:我们能否避免转换到近场,并通过亚波长区域将光传播到半导体中?当需要时,我们能否将宽带电磁能量传播到亚波长区域以提供高效的宽带光电二极管?如果普通硅半导体被石墨烯等更宽带的半导体所取代,后者可能是特别可取的。本文提出了一种传播的亚波长光束,称为光子纳米射流,类似于光剑或“激光剑”,可以用来将光聚焦到光电二极管的小有源区域上。探索性三维麦克斯韦方程时域有限差分(FDTD)模拟表明,纳米射流可以将光限制在与纳米结构偶极子天线相当的区域内,同时将多个波长传播到半导体中,甚至在需要的时候可以在很宽的频率范围内传播。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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