A room temperature, or moderately cooled, fast THz semiconductor hot electron bolometer

摘要

A fast THz bolometer is proposed in which, unlike the conventional thermal one, electromagnetic radiation heats only electrons in a narrow gap semiconductor without its lattice inertial heating. Under determined conditions, this heating changes generation-recombination processes that cause the carrier number to decrease and the semiconductor resistance to rise. The Hg_(0.8)Cd_(0.2)Te detector noise equivalent power in the range of 77-300 K can reach ～10~(-11) W for frequencies of about 1 THz and signal gain frequency bandwidth of 1 Hz. Measurements with the device prototype confirmed the concept of the proposed bolometer creation.