Enhanced Performance of Antenna-Integrated Schottky Barrier Diodes for Wave and Photonic Detection in the Infrared Regime

Antenna-integrated Schottky diode is fabricated for the detection of IR waves. The high current voltage nonlinearity, reflected by a current sensitivity of 15 A/W allows it to achieve a maximum rectification responsivity of 0.40x10(-8) A/W/cm(2) towards 28.3 THz radiations at lower DC bias. Simultaneously, the modulation of the cutoff wavelength of the diode by DC bias allows it to photo-detect 10.6 mu m radiations at higher DC bias. The integration of optical antenna with the diode results in light intensity enhancement of three orders of magnitude, validated by COMSOL finite element simulation and experimental measurements. The high intensity causes a significantly high photocurrent, quantified by a higher than unity external quantum efficiency, eta(e); approximately 3 orders of magnitude higher than the highest external quantum efficiency demonstrated by 10.6 mu m Schottky barrier photodetectors. The maximum responsivity of the device is comparable to the highest values demonstrated by the current state of the art 10.6 mu m detectors.