Graphene on silicon-nitride photodetector

Even though graphene is a gapless material, it demonstrates strong interband absorption from a broad range of wavelengths between VIS and NIR. Recent photocurrent graphene-based detectors demonstrated strong photoresponse signal near the graphene/metal boundaries. To increase the response time of photodetectors, the use of low thermal capacity materials and structures are required. SiN membranes are good candidates due to their high-quality factor (up to 106-107), low mass and excellent optical properties. The motivation for this study was based on a lack of any suitable solution for nano-dimension form factor detector that could be integrated into 3D photonic bandgap structures for real-time internal characterization.