Extremely Broadband High-speed Photodetector

Background

High-speed photodetectors operate in a relatively narrow wavelength range. Conversely, extremely broadband detectors suffer from slow response speed. A UW research team has developed a photodetector with both broadband detectivity and high-speed operation. Optical measurements with high spatial resolution beyond the diffraction limit is generally difficult, requiring complex near-field microscopes. By miniaturizing the detectors, a new simpler route for sub-diffraction limit measurements was developed.

Description of the invention

This is a sensor that has a very broad range of detection and a very rapid response time, a combination that is quite unique.

While there are other sensors that may target a specific range, this sensor has the capability to cover a very broad photodetection range from mid-infrared (MIR) to deep-ultraviolet (DUV).

The sensor accomplishes this by combining two semiconductors with different light response ranges (black phosphorus and 2H-MoTe₂) in a unique vertical geometry to produce a broadband sensor with a high response bandwidth of 2.2 MHz.

Advantages

This new sensor has the following advantages:

Room temperature operation
High speed operation
High sensitivity / detectivity
Wide spectral range operation from mid-infrared (MIR) to deep-ultraviolet (DUV)
Reduction of the number of sensors needed for multiple readings in different ranges.