Antenna-coupled microcavities for enhanced infrared photo-detection

We demonstrate mid-infrared detectors embedded into an array of double-metal nano-antennas. The antennas act as microcavities that squeeze the electric field into thin semiconductor layers, thus enhancing the detector responsivity. Furthermore, thanks to the ability of the antennas to gather photons from an area larger than the device's physical dimensions, the dark current is reduced without hindering the photo-generation rate. In these devices, the background-limited performance is improved with a consequent increase of the operating temperature. Our results illustrate how the antenna-coupled microcavity concept can be applied to enhance the performances of infrared opto-electronic devices. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.