Plasmonic photodetectors based on asymmetric nanogap electrodes

Hot electrons excited by plasmon resonance in nanostructure can be employed to enhance the properties of photodetectors, even when the photon energy is lower than the bandgap of the semiconductor. However, current research has seldom considered how to realize the efficient collection of hot electrons, which restricts the responsivity of the device. In this paper, a type of plasmonic photodetector based on asymmetric nanogap electrodes is proposed. Owing to this structure, the device achieves responsivities as high as 0.45 and 0.25 mA/W for wavelengths of 1310 and 1550 nm, respectively. These insights can aid the realization of efficient plasmon-enhanced photodetectors for infrared detection.