Ultrasensitive Self-Driven Terahertz Photodetectors Based on Low-Energy Type-II Dirac Fermions and Related Van der Waals Heterojunctions

Kaixuan Zhang; Zhen Hu; Libo Zhang; Yulu Chen; Dong Wang; Mengjie Jiang; Gianluca D'Olimpio; Li Han; Chenyu Yao; Zhiqingzi Chen; Huaizhong Xing; Chia-Nung Kuo; Chin Shan Lue; Ivana Vobornik; Shao-Wei Wang; Antonio Politano; Weida Hu; Lin Wang; Xiaoshuang Chen; Wei Lu

doi:10.1002/smll.202205329

Ultrasensitive Self-Driven Terahertz Photodetectors Based on Low-Energy Type-II Dirac Fermions and Related Van der Waals Heterojunctions

Small. 2023 Jan;19(1):e2205329. doi: 10.1002/smll.202205329. Epub 2022 Nov 7.

Authors

Kaixuan Zhang¹, Zhen Hu², Libo Zhang^{2

3}, Yulu Chen⁴, Dong Wang², Mengjie Jiang¹, Gianluca D'Olimpio⁵, Li Han^{2

3}, Chenyu Yao², Zhiqingzi Chen², Huaizhong Xing¹, Chia-Nung Kuo⁶, Chin Shan Lue⁶, Ivana Vobornik⁷, Shao-Wei Wang², Antonio Politano^{5

6}, Weida Hu², Lin Wang^{1

2}, Xiaoshuang Chen², Wei Lu²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Optoelectronic Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, China.
² State Key Laboratory for Infrared Physics, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 500 Yu-tian Road, Shanghai, 200083, China.
³ College of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 1, Sub-Lane Xiangshan, Xihu District, Hangzhou, 310024, China.
⁴ The 50th Research Institute of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, Shanghai, 200331, China.
⁵ Department of Physical and Chemical Sciences, University of L'Aquila, via Vetoio, L'Aquila, AQ, 67100, Italy.
⁶ Department of Physics, Cheng Kung University, 1 Ta-Hsueh Road, Taiwan, 70101, China.
⁷ CNR-IOM, Area Science Park, Strada Statale 14 km 163.5, Trieste, I-34149, Italy.

PMID: 36344449
DOI: 10.1002/smll.202205329

Abstract

The exotic electronic properties of topological semimetals (TSs) have opened new pathways for innovative photonic and optoelectronic devices, especially in the highly pursuit terahertz (THz) band. However, in most cases Dirac fermions lay far above or below the Fermi level, thus hindering their successful exploitation for the low-energy photonics. Here, low-energy type-II Dirac fermions in kitkaite (NiTeSe) for ultrasensitive THz detection through metal-topological semimetal-metal heterostructures are exploited. Furthermore, a heterostructure combining two Dirac materials, namely, graphene and NiTeSe, is implemented for a novel photodetector exhibiting a responsivity as high as 1.22 A W^-1 , with a response time of 0.6 µs, a noise-equivalent power of 18 pW Hz^-0.5 , with outstanding stability in the ambient conditions. This work brings to fruition of Dirac fermiology in THz technology, enabling self-powered, low-power, room-temperature, and ultrafast THz detection.

Keywords: terahertz photodetection; topological semimetals; type-II Dirac fermions; van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures.

Abstract

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