Applicability of Sc2O3 versus Al2O3 in MIM rectifiers for IR rectenna

Abstract Impedance matching between the terahertz antenna and ultra-fast Metal-Insulator-Metal (MIM) diode is a crucial issue in realizing rectenna technology for harvesting infrared (IR) energy spectrum. In this paper, scandium oxide (Sc2O3)-based MIM diodes were fabricated using magnetron sputtering and their rectification performance compared to state-of-the-art Au/Al2O3/Au diodes. The fabricated Al/Sc2O3/Al diode has exhibited around two orders of magnitude lower zero-bias dynamic resistance (RD0 = 956 kΩ) and high zero-bias responsivity (β0 = 1 A/W) in advance to Au/Al2O3/Au diode. The results point to applicability of scandium oxide in MIM rectifiers for IR rectenna.