Ultrahigh responsivity of optically active, semiconducting asymmetric nano-channel diodes

We present our research on the fabrication and optical characterization of novel semiconducting asymmetric nano-channel diodes (ANCDs). We focus on optical properties of ANCDs and demonstrate that they can be operated as very sensitive, single-photon-level, visible-light photodetectors. Our test devices consisted of 1.2-μm-long, ∼200- to 300-nm-wide channels that were etched in an InGaAs/InAlAs quantum-well hetero structure with a twodimensional electron gas layer. The ANCD I-V curves were collected by measuring the transport current both in the dark and under 800-nm-wavelength, continuous-wave-light laser illumination. In all of our devices, the impact of the light illumination was very clear, and there was a substantial photocurrent, even for incident optical power as low as 1 nW. The magnitude of the optical responsivity in ANCDs with the conducting nano-channel increased linearly with a decrease in optical power over many orders of magnitude, reaching a value of almost 10,000 A/W at 1-nW excitation. (paper)