Ultrafast terahertz detector and mixer using a hot electron 2DEG device

Abstract

Hot electron bolometric (HEB) detectors and mixers for the THz frequency range, which use thin-film superconductors, have been developed recently. They have short response times due to efficient cooling of ht hot electrons by either (i) phonon transmission from the film to the substrate, or (ii) diffusion of the electrons into the contacts. We have previously demonstrated a 2DEG detector which uses the heated 2D electron gas medium, as well as phonon-cooling. Here we propose and analyze a new version of this detector which employs diffusion cooling. A response time of 1 ps and responsivity of 3,000 V/W are calculated for a device which is 0.8 (mu) l long. This response time is considerably shorter than for any of the superconducting HEB detectors. The predicted double sideband receiver noise temperature for the mixer version is in the range 1,000 K to 2,000 K at 1 THz, with a 100 GHz intermediate frequency bandwidth. The new detector could be operated at 77K and the local oscillator power is estimated to be about 1 (mu) W.© (2000) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.