High-frequency rectifiers based on type-II Dirac fermions.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 33707448.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-021-21906-w and PMC identifier 7952558.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The advent of topological semimetals enables the exploitation of symmetry-protected topological phenomena and quantized transport. Here, we present homogeneous rectifiers, converting high-frequency electromagnetic energy into direct current, based on low-energy Dirac fermions of topological semimetal-NiTe<sub>2</sub>, with state-of-the-art efficiency already in the first implementation. Explicitly, these devices display room-temperature photosensitivity as high as 251 mA W<sup>-1</sup> at 0.3 THz in an unbiased mode, with a photocurrent anisotropy ratio of 22, originating from the interplay between the spin-polarized surface and bulk states. Device performances in terms of broadband operation, high dynamic range, as well as their high sensitivity, validate the immense potential and unique advantages associated to the control of nonequilibrium gapless topological states via built-in electric field, electromagnetic polarization and symmetry breaking in topological semimetals. These findings pave the way for the exploitation of topological phase of matter for high-frequency operations in polarization-sensitive sensing, communications and imaging.