Photonic THz mixers based on iron-doped InGaAs embedded in a plasmonic microcavity

Abstract

We present an optoelectronic mixer for the terahertz (THz) frequency-domain based on an iron-doped InGaAs layer integrated in a plasmonic microcavity. We show that this structure, under 1550-nm-wavelength illumination, allows for more than 70% absorption efficiency in a 220 nm-thin InGaAs absorber and very high Roff/Ron >1000. It leads to THz mixers driven by 1550-nm lasers showing conversion loss as low as ∼30 dB at 300 GHz. Therefore, this design is very promising for application as receivers in high-data-rate wireless telecom, in cw-THz spectrometers, or in photonics-enabled THz spectrum analyzers.