Effect of current on terahertz plasmons in AlGaN/GaN heterostructures

TL;DR

This study investigates how lateral current affects terahertz plasmon resonances in AlGaN/GaN heterostructures, revealing key mechanisms like electron profile changes and heating that influence device performance.

Contribution

It demonstrates the impact of lateral bias on plasmon resonance frequencies and identifies the main physical phenomena responsible for these shifts in AlGaN/GaN structures.

Findings

Plasmon resonance frequencies decrease with increased lateral current.

Electron concentration profile changes cause resonance shifts.

Joule heating significantly influences plasma resonant frequency.

Abstract

Terahertz transmittance spectra of plasmonic crystals based on two-dimensional electron gas in AlGaN/GaN heterostructures were studied in grating-gate and gateless plasmonic crystals as a function of lateral bias. The decrease of the plasmon resonance frequencies (redshift) with increase of the lateral current was observed for both types of structures. We show that the change of the electron concentration profile and Joule heating are the main phenomena responsible for the shift of plasma resonant frequency. These results are important for designing plasmonic resonances based filters, detectors, and emitters operating under voltage bias conditions.