ANALYSIS OF TERAHERTZ DETECTION WITH A 2D HOT -ELECTRON QUANTUM WELL DETECTOR

The operation of a previously proposed terahertz (THZ) detector is formulated in detail . The detector is based on the hot-elec- tron effect of the 2D electron gas (2DEG) in the quantum well (QW) of a GaAs/ AIGaAs heterostructure . The interaction between the THz radia- tion and the 2DEG, the current enhancement due to hot -electron effect, and the noise performance of the detector are analyzed . m 2003 Wiley Periodi- 4.5-nm-thick GaAs QWs doped n = IO" cm-3 and 30-nm undoped Al0 3GaO.7As barriers. The MQW is sandwiched between n = loll cm-3 GaAs layers to which contacts were provided. The detector was tested at 10 GHz using a waveguide to couple microwave energy to the sample. It was found that, as long as there is a non-zero component of the electric field lying in the layer plane, thermionic current is enhanced due to the radiation, Al- though X-band microwave was used in the preliminary experi- ments, it was suggested that radiation could be detected up to It) THz. The basic setup for the above-mentioned experiment is shown