Plasmon-assisted photothermoelectric effect based detection of infrared radiation on asymmetrically patterned graphene

Abstract

Various methods and devices for ultrasensitive infrared photodetection, infrared imaging, and other optoelectronic applications using the plasmon assisted thermoelectric effect in graphene are described. Infrared detection by the photo-thermoelectric uses the generation of a temperature gradient (ΔT) for the efficient collection of the generated hot-carriers. An asymmetric plasmon-induced hot-carrier Seebeck photodetection scheme at room temperature exhibits a remarkable responsivity along with an ultrafast response in the technologically relevant 8-12 μm band. This is achieved by engineering the asymmetric electronic environment of the generated hot carriers on chemical vapor deposition (CVD) grown large area nanopatterned monolayer graphene, which leads to a record ΔT across the device terminals thereby enhancing the photo-thermoelectric voltage beyond the theoretical limit for graphene. The results provide a strategy for uncooled, tunable, multispectral infrared detection.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.