Wide-angle high-performance photodetector empowered by angle-insensitive Tamm plasmon polariton

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel design of a wide-angle, high-performance photodetector using hyperbolic metamaterials to stabilize Tamm plasmon-polariton resonances across a broad range of incident angles.

Contribution

It introduces a method to tailor photonic crystal dispersion with hyperbolic metamaterials, enabling angle-insensitive TPP modes for improved photodetector performance.

Findings

Achieved 17.5 mA/W responsivity at normal incidence.

Responsivity decreases by only 10% at 60° incidence for TM polarization.

Demonstrated broad-angle stability surpassing conventional structures.

Abstract

Tamm plasmon-polaritons (TPPs) - optical modes localized at the interface between a metal and a photonic crystal (PhC) - offer a versatile platform for confining light in planar optoelectronic devices. However, their implementation in angle-sensitive applications such as photodetectors and solar cells is hindered by strong angular dispersion of light. In this work, we propose a strategy to overcome this limitation by tailoring the dispersive properties of a PhC through the integration of hyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs). Using the transfer matrix method and effective medium theory, we demonstrate that the HMM exhibits type-I hyperbolic dispersion in the telecommunication wavelength range. This enables a photonic bandgap whose angular dependence compensates for the intrinsic blue shift of the TPP mode, effectively anchoring the resonance at 1550 nm over a broad range of incidence angles. Device performance is evaluated using the Fowler internal photoemission model, yielding a normal-incidence responsivity of 17.5 mA/W. Notably, for TM-polarized light, the responsivity decreases by only 10% at a 60 degree incidence angle - a substantial improvement over conventional all-dielectric PhC structures, which exhibit a degradation exceeding 86%. Our findings establish HMM-engineered TPPs as a promising platform for wide-angle high-performance photodetectors and open new directions for dispersion engineering in active plasmonic and optoelectronic devices.