Efficient rectification of infrared radiation using nano-rectennas and slow-light microstructures

摘要

We discuss the possibility of rectifying infrared radiation using metal-insulator-metal (MIM) tunneling nanodiodes, which are nano-engineered to nano-rectennas and hyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs). We show that a lithographically patterned HMM may enable efficient, broadband and omnidirectional rectification of mid-infrared (MIR) in the slow-light mode, with responsivity much greater than conventional nano-rectennas. We demonstrate that the responsivity of HMM-based devices can reach few tens of mA/W in the MIR region, which may found many interesting applications in photodetection, infrared imaging, and energy harvesting.