Nanoscale avalanche photodiodes for highly sensitive and spatially resolved photon detection

Hayden, Oliver; Agarwal, Ritesh; Lieber, Charles M.

doi:10.1038/nmat1635

Cited by 423 publications

(363 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Meanwhile, PIC applications will likely necessitate electrically controllable optoelectronic devices. A few demonstrations of nanowire optoelectronics exist, but either single nanowires were removed from their native substrates [18][19][20] or nanowire ensembles were used 21,22 . Both scenarios make mass device integration extremely demanding.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Nanophotonic integrated circuits from nanoresonators grown on silicon

Chen

et al. 2014

Nat Commun

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Harnessing light with photonic circuits promises to catalyse powerful new technologies much like electronic circuits have in the past. Analogous to Moore's law, complexity and functionality of photonic integrated circuits depend on device size and performance scale. Semiconductor nanostructures offer an attractive approach to miniaturize photonics. However, shrinking photonics has come at great cost to performance, and assembling such devices into functional photonic circuits has remained an unfulfilled feat. Here we demonstrate an on-chip optical link constructed from InGaAs nanoresonators grown directly on a silicon substrate. Using nanoresonators, we show a complete toolkit of circuit elements including light emitters, photodetectors and a photovoltaic power supply. Devices operate with gigahertz bandwidths while consuming subpicojoule energy per bit, vastly eclipsing performance of prior nanostructure-based optoelectronics. Additionally, electrically driven stimulated emission from an as-grown nanostructure is presented for the first time. These results reveal a roadmap towards future ultradense nanophotonic integrated circuits.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Nanophotonic integrated circuits from nanoresonators grown on silicon

Chen

et al. 2014

Nat Commun

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“…In conjunction with an electrically driven plasmon source 23 , a near-field SP detector could be integrated into a "dark" optoelectronic-plasmonic nanocircuit in which all coupling is in the near field. Moreover, the plasmon detection sensitivity could be improved by using a nanoscale avalanche photodiode 24 Approximately 30% of the SP energy is reflected, 3% scatters to the far field, 20% is absorbed by the Ge NW, and the rest is transmitted.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Near-field electrical detection of optical plasmons and single-plasmon sources

Falk¹,

Koppens²,

et al. 2009

Nature Phys

312

272

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* These authors contribute equally to this work.Photonic circuits can be much faster than their electronic counterparts, but they are difficult to miniaturize below the optical wavelength scale. Nanoscale photonic circuits based on surface plasmon polaritons (SPs) are a promising solution to this problem because they can localize light below the diffraction limit 1-8 . However, there is a general tradeoff between the localization of an SP and the efficiency with which it can be detected with conventional far-field optics. Here we describe a new all-electrical SP detection technique based on the near-field coupling between guided plasmons and a nanowire field-effect transistor. We use our detectors to electrically detect the plasmon emission from an individual colloidal quantum dot coupled to an SP waveguide. The detectors are both nanoscale and highly efficient (0.1 electrons/plasmon), and a plasmonic gating effect can be used to amplify the signal even higher (up to 50 electrons/plasmon). These results enable new on-chip optical sensing applications and fulfill a key requirement for "dark" optoplasmonic nanocircuits in which SPs can be generated, manipulated, and detected without involving far-field radiation.2 SPs are charge-density waves that propagate along metal-dielectric interfaces. They can be concentrated and guided by current carrying wires, suggesting an integrated approach to optical and electrical signal processing. Our near-field plasmon detection scheme consists of an Ag nanowire (NW) crossing a Ge NW field-effect transistor (Fig. 1, Methods). The Ag NW guides 10 SPs to the Ag/Ge junction, where they are converted to electron-hole (e-h) pairs 11-13 and detected as current through the Ge NW. The Ag NWs are highly crystalline and defect-free 8,14,15 , allowing SPs to propagate over distances of several microns without scattering into free-space photons. The Ge NWs are lightly p-doped, covered with a thin native oxide layer, and sensitive to visible light 16 .Electrical plasmon detection is demonstrated by scanning a focused laser beam across an Ag/Ge crossbar device and recording the current (I) through the Ge NW as a function of the diffraction-limited laser spot position. These data, recorded at V b = V gate = 0, show that current flows through the Ge NW only when the laser beam is focused on four distinct spots on the device (Fig. 1b). First, current is detected when the laser is focused near the Ag/Ge junction, due to the direct photoresponse of the Ge NW 16 . The photocurrent induced on the left (I left ) and right (I right ) sides of the junction have opposite signs (discussed below). Moreover, current through the Ge NW (I plas ) is recorded when the laser is focused at either end of the Ag NW.This I plas signal is the key signature for electrical SP detection. Propagating SPs can be launched in the Ag NW only when the excitation laser is incident on the Ag NW ends 15 . Away from the ends, free space photon-to-SP conversion is strongly suppressed by the wave vector mismatch between the two ...

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“…Light source was assumed to have 0.6 mm in wavelength and 1 lux is 1.464 mW=m 2 . When compared to avalanche photodiode (4 pW minimum detectable power) (Hayden et al 2006), HNB photodetector showed the step of light intensity change with 11.5 pW and similar dynamic range from pW to nW with less noise. We further evaluated the performance of HNB photodetectors including responsiveness (R d ðA=W Þ ¼ dI=P in ), which is the photocurrent per unit power intensity, and EQE (%) described in Eq.…”

Section: In-plane Sensor Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Nanoscale photodetectors have been previously demonstrated using 1-D nanostructures such as a single as-synthesized silicon nanowire (NW) (O'brien et al 2006;Gu et al 2005) or nanotube (NT) (Wei et al 2006) though reduced surface area can negatively affect the signal-to-noise ratio. A nanoscale avalanche photodiode was developed to amplify the single photon detection efficiency Hayden et al 2006). In order to maintain the signal quality, it is advantageous to maintain the surface area exposed to light.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

3-D InGaAs/GaAs Helical Nanobelts for Optoelectronic Devices

Hwang¹,

Dockendorf²,

Bell³

et al. 2008

International Journal of Optomechatronics

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This article systematically characterizes conductometric InGaAs/GaAs helical nanobelts for use with optoelectronic sensing. The responsiveness, energy conversion efficiency, and external quantum efficiency are improved compared to conventional sensors by reducing the length of 3-D helical nanobelts without losing exposure area. Nanorobotic assembly and characterization of 3-D helical in/out-of-plane nanobelt photodetectors allowed for stable intrinsic property characterizations. When compared to nanotube bundles, impovement in properties such as energy conversion efficiency, responsiveness, and external quantum efficiency are experimentally demonstrated in both an optical microscope and scanning electron microscope. A probe-type photodetector was assembled using nanorobotic manipulation and in-situ gold nanoparticle ink soldering. The highly efficient and sensitive 3-D InGaAs/GaAs helical nanobelt photodetectors enable many optoelectronic device applications such as being the probes for the near field optical microscopy, confocal microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, or spatial detection with further characterizations.

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Nanoscale avalanche photodiodes for highly sensitive and spatially resolved photon detection

Cited by 423 publications

References 26 publications

Nanophotonic integrated circuits from nanoresonators grown on silicon

Nanophotonic integrated circuits from nanoresonators grown on silicon

Near-field electrical detection of optical plasmons and single-plasmon sources

3-D InGaAs/GaAs Helical Nanobelts for Optoelectronic Devices

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