Field Effect Transistors for Terahertz Detection: Physics and First Imaging Applications

Resonant frequencies of the two-dimensional plasma in FETs increase with the reduction of the channel dimensions and can reach the THz range for sub-micron gate lengths. Nonlinear properties of the electron plasma in the transistor channel can be used for the detection and mixing of THz frequencies. At cryogenic temperatures resonant and gate voltage tunable detection related to plasma waves resonances, is observed. At room temperature, when plasma oscillations are overdamped, the FET can operate as an efficient broadband THz detector. We present the main theoretical and experimental results on THz detection by FETs in the context of their possible application for THz imaging.Comment: 22 pages, 12 figures, review pape

Magnetospectroscopy of CdTe/Cd₁-xMgxTe modulation-doped quantum wells in THz and visible range

Transport, photoluminescence, THz transmission, and optically detected cyclotron resonance studies were carried out on samples with a single modulation-doped CdTe/Cd1-xMgxTe quantum well. THz experiments were performed at liquid helium temperatures for photon energies between about 0.5 meV and 3.5 meV. An effective mass of electron was determined to be (0.1020 ± 0.0003)m₀. Observed photoluminescence and optically detected cyclotron resonance spectra cannot be explained within the simple model of Landau quantization of parabolic bands

Polarization of Magnetoplasmons in Grating Metamaterials Based on CdTe/CdMgTe Quantum Wells

Grating metamaterials were fabricated with electron beam lithography on CdTe/CdMgTe modulation doped structures with two non-interacting quantum wells. Two types of samples were studied: with etched gratings and with gratings formed by deposition of Au stripes. The polarization properties at THz frequencies of the gratings were determined at room temperature. It was shown that Au gratings formed a linear polarizer, while etched gratings did not polarize THz radiation. Transmission of circularly polarized THz radiation at low temperatures through a sample with no grating showed a strongly circularly polarized cyclotron resonance transition. Transmission of this radiation through a sample with an etched grating showed a magnetoplasmon transition that was almost perfectly linearly polarized. We concluded that magnetoplasmons in metamaterials with etched gratings are linearly polarized excitations, possibly with a small contribution of a circular component. This work opens the possibility of the detailed study of the polarization of magnetoplasmons, which has not been explored in the past

Grating Metamaterials Based on CdTe/CdMgTe Quantum Wells as Terahertz Detectors for High Magnetic Field Applications

The cyclotron and magnetoplasmon resonances were studied at 2 K in grating metamaterials fabricated on wafers with one or two modulation doped CdTe/CdMgTe quantum wells. The gratings (with the period varied between 2 μ m and 8 μ m) were prepared with an electron beam lithography either by etching or by evaporation of Au. The gratings were studied with an atomic force microscope which revealed a correlation between the depth and width of etched grooves at a constant time of etching. The sharpest resonances observed are due to excitation of magnetoplasmon in the case of Au gratings on a wafer with one quantum well. Etched samples with two quantum wells showed the strongest tuneability of magnetoplasmon resonances with the period of the grating and illumination with white light. We showed that the samples studied can be used as resonant or quasi-resonant terahertz detectors tuneable with magnetic field and white light

A High Mobility Field-Effect Transistor as an Antenna for sub-THz Radiation

International audienceThe experiments on radiation coupling to field effect transistors working as terahertz radiation detectors are reported. Two types of high electron mobility transistors: InGaAs/InAlAs and GaAs/AlGaAs, with different layout geometries are studied. We show that terahertz radiation coupling efficiency is related to the layout of contact electrodes that play a role of an antenna. Our results show that the antenna coupling efficiency is one of the most important parameter to optimize in future field effect transistor based terahertz detectors

Terahertz response of CdTe/Cd1-xMgxTe modulation-doped multiple quantum wells

Terahertz (THz) transmission, photoresistance, and electrical conductivity experiments were carried out at 4.2 K on a sample with modulation-doped CdTe/Cd1-xMgxTe multiple quantum wells. The measurements were carried out as a function of a magnetic field up to 9 T and a radiation frequency between 0.1 and 0.66 THz. A broad minimum in the transmission curve was observed at magnetic fields corresponding to the cyclotron resonance at given THz frequency which was followed at larger fields by an oscillatory signal, periodic in ˉˡ. Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations were observed in magnetoconductivity and in photoresistance. Each of these experimental signals revealed the same electron concentration equal to (1.01 ± 0.03) ∙10ˡ² cmˉ². THz spectroscopy results are compared with data obtained on a single quantum well and are discussed from the point of view of using such multiple quantum wells as THz optical elements

Magnetoconductivity and Terahertz Response of a HgCdTe Epitaxial Layer

An epitaxial layer of HgCdTe—a THz detector—was studied in magnetotransmission, magnetoconductivity and magnetophotoconductivity experiments at cryogenic temperatures. In the optical measurements, monochromatic excitation with photon frequency ranging from 0.05 THz to 2.5 THz was used. We show a resonant response of the detector at magnetic fields as small as 10 mT with the width of the resonant line equal to about 5 mT. Application of a circular polarizer at 2.5 THz measurements allowed for confirming selection rules predicted by the theory of optical transitions in a narrow-gap semiconductor and to estimate the band-gap to be equal to about 4.5 meV. The magnetoconductivity tensor was determined as a function of magnetic field and temperature 2 K < T < 120 K and analysed with a standard one-carrier conductivity model and the mobility spectrum technique. The sample showed n-type conductivity at all temperatures. At temperatures above about 30 K, conductivity was found to be reasonably described by the one-carrier model. At lower temperatures, this description is not accurate. The algorithm of the spectrum of mobility applied to data measured below 30 K showed presence of three types of carriers which were tentatively interpreted as electrons, light holes and heavy holes. The mobility of electrons and light holes is of the order of 10 6 cm 2 /Vs at the lowest temperatures. Magnetophotoconductivity experiments allowed for proposing a detector working at 2 K and 50 mT with a flat response between 0.05 THz and 2.5 THz