Product Code: ICA12_N203

Efficient Laser Coupling into Plasmonic Nanoantenna Arrays for Fabrication and Characterization of Sensitive Infrared Bolometers
Authors:
Masoud Mahjouri-Samani, Department of Electrical Engineering, Univ. of Nebraska-Lincoln; Lincoln NE USA
Yunshen Zhou, Department of Electrical Engineering, Univ. of Nebraska-Lincoln; Lincoln NE USA
Wei Xiong, Department of Electrical Engineering, Univ. of Nebraska-Lincoln; Lincoln NE USA
Xiangnan He, Department of Electrical Engineering, Univ. of Nebraska-Lincoln; Lincoln NE USA
Paul Hilger, Department of Electrical Engineering, Univ. of Nebraska-Lincoln; Lincoln NE USA
Yongfeng Lu, Department of Electrical Engineering, Univ. of Nebraska-Lincoln; Lincoln NE USA
Presented at ICALEO 2012

Novel properties of plasmonic nanoantennas and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were applied to realize fast and sensitive infrared bolometers. We showed that strong concentration of optical fields and the small volume of active materials in the gaps of the nanoantenna arrays, where the optical field is the strongest, resulted in an enhanced light-matter coupling and hence improved photoresponse of the bolometers. CNTs were selected as an active material due to their high optical absorption and thermal conductivity. A CO2 laser beam was efficiently coupled into the silver nanoantenna arrays to selectively grow CNTs in their gaps and enhance the photoresponse of the bolometers. Strong photon-electron-phonon couplings both in plasmonic nanoantennas and CNTs greatly enhanced the photoresponse of the IR bolometers.