Heterodimensional Plasmonic Stubs Enabling THz Electronics

Emerging TeraFET technology has yielded sensitive tunable detectors of terahertz (THz) radiation. Using plasmonic crystals incorporating TeraFETs to achieve the instability of the plasma waves enabling electronic THz sources could revolutionize the THz electronics. But this approach faces challenges related to matching the boundary conditions between dissimilar plasmonic regions. We report on using “plasmonic stubs” – the narrow regions of an increased width to match the conditions at the interfaces between different devices regions. The physics of the problem (explored using the hydrodynamic model) is similar to that of the water flow in a river of a variable width. The mathematics of the problem is based on the transmission line model. Our analysis shows how to achieve tunable plasmonic instability (supporting THz emission) using plasmonic stubs.