Spectrally Selective Photocapacitance Modulation in Plasmonic Nanochannels for Infrared Imaging

The optical response of subwavelength plasmonic structures can be used to monitor minute changes in their physical, chemical, and biological environments with high performance for sensing. The optical response in the far field is governed by the near-field properties of plasmon resonances. Sharp, tunable resonances can be obtained by controlling the shape of the structure and by using resonant cavities. However, microintegration of plasmonic structures on chips is difficult because of the readout in the far field. As such, structures that form an electrical microcircuit and directly monitor the near field variation would be more desirable. Here, we report on an electronically readable photocapacitor based on a plasmonic nanochannel structure with high spectral resolution and a large modulation capability. The structure consists of metallic U-cavities and semiconductor channels, which are used to focus and confine light at the semiconductor metal interfaces. At these interfaces, light is efficiently converted into photocarriers that change the electrical impedance of the structure. The capacitance modulation of the structure in response to light produces a light-to-dark contrast ratio larger than 10(3). A reflectance spectrum with a bandwidth of 16 nm and a 6% modulation depth is detected using a reactance variation of 3 k Omega with the same bandwidth. This photocapacitor design offers a practical means of monitoring changes induced by the near field and thus could be deployed in pixel arrays of image sensors for miniaturized spectroscopic applications.