Optical metal–oxide tunnel detectors with microstructured electrodes

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Abstract
Order-of-magnitude improvement of the quantum efficiency of metal–oxide–metal detectors is achieved in the visible spectrum by fabricating the devices on silica substrates structured with a periodic array of bumps separated by about 0.25 μm. Structuring metallic films affords improved coupling of the detector to visible light by excitation of localized plasma resonances and surface-plasmon polariton modes. Voltage responsivities of 5 mV/W into a 50-Ω impedance has been demonstrated in preliminary devices. In suitable geometries, such detectors have the potential of subpicosecond response times.