Bias-free terahertz generation from a silicon-compatible photoconductive emitter operating at telecommunication wavelengths

Lu, Ping-Keng; Jiang, Xinghe; Zhao, Yifan; Turan, Deniz; Jarrahi, Mona

doi:10.1063/5.0098340

Bias-free terahertz generation from a silicon-compatible photoconductive emitter operating at telecommunication wavelengths

Journal Article · Wed Jun 29 00:00:00 EDT 2022 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0098340· OSTI ID:1979118

Lu, Ping-Keng ^[1]; Jiang, Xinghe ^[2]; ^[2]; Turan, Deniz ^[2]; ^[2]

Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)

Here, we present a telecommunication-compatible bias-free photoconductive terahertz emitter composed of a bilayer InAs structure directly grown on a high-resistivity silicon substrate. The bilayer InAs structure includes p⁺-doped and undoped InAs layers, inducing a strong built-in electric field that enables terahertz generation without requiring any external bias voltage. A large-area plasmonic nanoantenna array is used to enhance and confine optical generation inside the photoconductive region with the highest built-in electric field, leading to the generation of a strong ultrafast photocurrent and broadband terahertz radiation. Thanks to a higher terahertz transmission through the silicon substrate and a shorter carrier lifetime in the InAs layers grown on silicon, higher signal-to-noise ratios are achieved at high terahertz frequencies compared with previously demonstrated bias-free terahertz emitters realized on GaAs. In addition to compatibility with silicon integrated optoelectronic platforms, the presented bias-free photoconductive emitter provides more than a 6 THz radiation bandwidth with more than 100 dB dynamic range when used in a terahertz time-domain spectroscopy system.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States); University of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: US Department of the Navy, Office of Naval Research (ONR); USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0016925

OSTI ID:: 1979118

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1874402
OSTI ID: 2001453

Journal Information:: Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 26 Vol. 120; ISSN 0003-6951

Publisher:: American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Bias-free terahertz generation from a silicon-compatible photoconductive emitter operating at telecommunication wavelengths

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