Room-temperature field-tunable radiofrequency rectification in epitaxial SrIrO3 films

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a high-frequency, field-tunable radiofrequency rectifier using epitaxial SrIrO3 films that operates up to 37 GHz with low power detection, showing potential for ambient electromagnetic energy harvesting.

Contribution

It introduces a novel SrIrO3-based rectifier with broad-band, high-frequency, and temperature-dependent rectification capabilities driven by nonlinear Hall effects.

Findings

Rectifies radiofrequency signals up to 37 GHz.

Detects power as low as ~300 nanowatts.

Operates effectively up to 360 K with temperature-dependent behavior.

Abstract

Although significant advancements have been made in wireless technologies and portable devices, it remains a challenge for high-frequency and nanowatt-level radiofrequency rectification. In this work, we report a pronounced radiofrequency rectification up to 37 GHz in nominally centrosymmetric SrIrO3 epitaxial films, with the minimum detectable power as low as ~300 nanowatts. Strikingly, the SrIrO3 rectifier is highly field-tunable and exhibits a strong in-plane field anisotropy, thus showing a unique advantage in broad-band radiofrequency rectification. The rectification effect can persist up to at least 360 K and shows a sensitive temperature dependence including a sign inversion. By a systematic study of the nonlinear transport properties of SrIrO3, it is further revealed that the radiofrequency rectification originates from the nonlinear Hall effect with the dominant contribution from field-induced Berry curvature dipole. Our work demonstrates the superior performance of the field-tunable SrIrO3 rectifiers, unleashing the great application potential of centrosymmetric materials in harvesting and detecting ambient electromagnetic energy.