You Chia Chang

Graphene photodetectors with ultra-broadband and high responsivity at room temperature

The ability to detect light over a broad spectral range is central to several technological applications in imaging, sensing, spectroscopy and communication. Graphene is a promising candidate material for ultra-broadband photodetectors, as its absorption spectrum covers the entire ultraviolet to far-infrared range. However, the responsivity of graphene-based photodetectors has so far been limited to tens of mA W(-1) (refs 5-10) due to the small optical absorption of a monolayer of carbon atoms. Integration of colloidal quantum dots in the light absorption layer can improve the responsivity of graphene photodetectors to ∼ 1 × 10(7) A W(-1) (ref. 11), but the spectral range of photodetection is reduced because light absorption occurs in the quantum dots. Here, we report an ultra-broadband photodetector design based on a graphene double-layer heterostructure. The detector is a phototransistor consisting of a pair of stacked graphene monolayers (top layer, gate; bottom layer, channel) separated by a thin tunnel barrier. Under optical illumination, photoexcited hot carriers generated in the top layer tunnel into the bottom layer, leading to a charge build-up on the gate and a strong photogating effect on the channel conductance. The devices demonstrated room-temperature photodetection from the visible to the mid-infrared range, with mid-infrared responsivity higher than 1 A W(-1), as required by most applications. These results address key challenges for broadband infrared detectors, and are promising for the development of graphene-based hot-carrier optoelectronic applications.

Realization of mid-infrared graphene hyperbolic metamaterials

While metal is the most common conducting constituent element in the fabrication of metamaterials, graphene provides another useful building block, that is, a truly two-dimensional conducting sheet whose conductivity can be controlled by doping. Here we report the experimental realization of a multilayer structure of alternating graphene and Al2O3 layers, a structure similar to the metal-dielectric multilayers commonly used in creating visible wavelength hyperbolic metamaterials. Chemical vapour deposited graphene rather than exfoliated or epitaxial graphene is used, because layer transfer methods are easily applied in fabrication. We employ a method of doping to increase the layer conductivity, and our analysis shows that the doped chemical vapour deposited graphene has good optical properties in the mid-infrared range. We therefore design the metamaterial for mid-infrared operation; our characterization with an infrared ellipsometer demonstrates that the metamaterial experiences an optical topological transition from elliptic to hyperbolic dispersion at a wavelength of 4.5 μm.

Extracting the complex optical conductivity of mono- and bilayer graphene by ellipsometry

A method for analysis of spectroscopic ellipsometry data is demonstrated to extract the optical conductivity of mono- and bilayer chemical-vapor-deposited graphene. We model graphene as a truly two-dimensional (2D) material with a sheet conductivity, rather than a phenomenological effective refractive index as has been used in the literature. This technique measures both the real and imaginary part of the optical conductivity, which is important for graphene optoelectronics and metamaterials. Using this method, we obtain broadband measurements of the complex optical conductivity for mono- and bilayer graphene from ultraviolet to mid-infrared wavelengths. We also study how chemical doping with nitric acid modifies the complex optical conductivity.

Enhancement of photonic density of states in finite graphene multilayers

Ashley M. DaSilva, You-Chia Chang, 3 Ted Norris, 4 and Allan H. MacDonald Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712-1192, USA Applied Physics Program, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA Center for Ultrafast Optical Science, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA

Ultrafast Lateral Photo-Dember Effect in Graphene Induced by Nonequilibrium Hot Carrier Dynamics.

The photo-Dember effect arises from the asymmetric diffusivity of photoexcited electrons and holes, which creates a transient spatial charge distribution and hence the buildup of a voltage. Conventionally, a strong photo-Dember effect is only observed in semiconductors with a large asymmetry between the electron and hole mobilities, such as in GaAs or InAs, and is considered negligible in graphene due to its electron-hole symmetry. Here, we report the observation of a strong lateral photo-Dember effect induced by nonequilibrium hot carrier dynamics when exciting a graphene-metal interface with a femtosecond laser. Scanning photocurrent measurements reveal the extraction of photoexcited hot carriers is driven by the transient photo-Dember field, and the polarity of the photocurrent is determined by the devices mobility asymmetry. Furthermore, ultrafast pump-probe measurements indicate the magnitude of photocurrent is related to the hot carrier cooling rate. Our simulations also suggest that the lateral photo-Dember effect originates from graphenes 2D nature combined with its unique electrical and optical properties. Taken together, these results not only reveal a new ultrafast photocurrent generation mechanism in graphene but also suggest new types of terahertz sources based on 2D nanomaterials.

Optical Asymmetry and Nonlinear Light Scattering from Colloidal Gold Nanorods

A systematic study is presented of the intensity-dependent nonlinear light scattering spectra of gold nanorods under resonant excitation of the longitudinal surface plasmon resonance (SPR). The spectra exhibit features due to coherent second and third harmonic generation as well as a broadband feature that has been previously attributed to multiphoton photoluminescence arising primarily from interband optical transitions in the gold. A detailed study of the spectral dependence of the scaling of the scattered light with excitation intensity shows unexpected scaling behavior of the coherent signals, which is quantitatively accounted for by optically induced damping of the SPR mode through a Fermi liquid model of the electronic scattering. The broadband feature is shown to arise not from luminescence, but from scattering of the second-order longitudinal SPR mode with the electron gas, where efficient excitation of the second order mode arises from an optical asymmetry of the nanorod. The electronic-temperature-dependent plasmon damping and the Fermi-Dirac distribution together determine the intensity dependence of the broadband emission, and the structure-dependent absorption spectrum determines the spectral shape through the fluctuation-dissipation theorem. Hence a complete self-consistent picture of both coherent and incoherent light scattering is obtained with a single set of physical parameters.

Mid-infrared hyperbolic metamaterial based on graphene-dielectric multilayers

We have designed and fabricated a mid-infrared hyperbolic metamaterial composed of alternating Al₂O₃ and chemical-vapor-deposited graphene. Infrared ellipsometry shows a topological transition from elliptical to hyperbolic dispersion at the wavelength of 7.4 μτη.

Metasurface perfect absorber based on guided resonance of hypercrystal

We report a perfect absorber utilizing the guided resonance of a hypercrystal. Because a hypercrystal confines light to a deeply subwavelength thickness, it operates as a metasurface, providing the required surface conductivity for unity absorption.

A fresh look on the origin of nonlinear light scattering and photoluminescence from gold nanorods

Using electron holography, we have shown that gold nanorods with perfect structural symmetry are electrically anisotropic. We present a quantitative model that accounts for the spectrum, power scaling and the origin of the luminescence.

Extracting the complex optical conductivity of true two-dimensional layers by ellipsometry

A simple and robust technique to extract the complex optical conductivity of truly two-dimensional materials is developed. Applying the method to chemical-vapor-deposited graphene, we extract the complex conductivity, including Fermi level and scattering time.