Surface plasmon waveguide Schottky detectors operating near breakdown

Abstract Surface plasmon waveguide Schottky detectors were investigated experimentally at room temperature near junction breakdown. The detectors consist of an Au stripe on n‐Si forming a Schottky contact thereon and supporting strongly confined surface plasmons localised at the Au/Si interface. The detectors were excited by end‐fire coupling at λ₀ = 1310 nm where the detection mechanism is the internal photoelectric effect. A ∼10× increase in responsivity was measured at strong reverse biases compared to no bias due to plasmon‐induced junction breakdown. A maximum responsivity of 2.35 mA/W is reported. magnified image Surface plasmon waveguide Schottky detector (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)