Enhanced Current Density and Asymmetry of Metal-Insulator-Metal Diodes Based on the Self-Assembly of Pt Nanoparticles for Optical Rectennas

TL;DR

This paper introduces a metal-insulator-metal diode with self-assembled platinum nanoparticles that significantly boosts current density and asymmetry, advancing optical rectenna technology for energy harvesting.

Contribution

It demonstrates a novel self-assembly method to enhance MIM diode performance by shaping the tunneling barrier with Pt nanoparticles, surpassing conventional diodes.

Findings

Current density increased by several orders of magnitude.

Diode efficiency exceeded traditional MIM diodes by 231 times.

Enhanced electric field via nanoparticle self-assembly improves optical rectenna prospects.

Abstract

Optical rectennas consist of nano-antennas and nano-scale rectifying diodes, providing extensive prospects for thermal radiation energy harvesting applications. To achieve this, high current density and high asymmetry must be simultaneously obtained in rectifying diodes with ultra-high-speed responses to optical frequencies. In this study, we report a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) diode with a strongly enhanced electric field achieved via the self-assembly of uniform Pt nanoparticles (NPs) using atomic layer deposition. An enhancement of several orders of magnitude in the current density and asymmetry of this system in comparison to conventional MIM diodes was realized by shaping the tunneling barrier. The diode efficiency of the proposed MIM diodes experimentally confirmed that significantly exceeds the MIM diode without NPs by 231 times. Furthermore, the proposed strategy can be integrated with various advanced tunnel diodes to achieve high-performance optical rectennas.