High detectivity terahertz radiation sensing using frequency-noise-optimized nanomechanical resonators
Abstract
We achieve high detectivity terahertz sensing using a silicon nitride nanomechanical resonator functionalized with a metasurface absorber. High performances are achieved by striking a fine balance between the frequency stability of the resonator, and its responsivity to absorbed radiation. Using this approach, we demonstrate a detectivity and a noise equivalent power that outperform the best room-temperature on-chip THz detectors (i.e., pyroelectrics). Our optical absorber consists of a 1-mm diameter metasurface, which currently enables a 0.5-3 THz detection range but can easily be scaled to other frequencies in the THz and infrared ranges. In addition to demonstrating high-performance terahertz sensing, our work unveils an important fundamental trade-off between high frequency stability and high responsivity in thermal-based nanomechanical radiation sensors.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2401.16503,
title = {High detectivity terahertz radiation sensing using frequency-noise-optimized nanomechanical resonators},
author = {Chang Zhang and Eeswar K. Yalavarthi and Mathieu Giroux and Wei Cui and Michel Stephan and Ali Maleki and Arnaud Weck and Jean-Michel Ménard and Raphael St-Gelais},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2401.16503},
year = {2024}
}