Reassessing Plasma Resonance in THz Detection: Energy Losses of Carriers in Field-Effect Transistors

Abstract

The conditions required for the generation of surface plasmons at the dielectric–semiconductor interface are crucial for evaluating the suitability of the plasmon model for the description of THz detection using field-effect transistors. Existing literature often simplifies the plasma resonance formula, neglecting energy losses of free carriers, which is especially problematic near the threshold voltage regime of transistors. In this paper, we show that an insufficient number of free carriers in this regime prevents the plasmon formation in wideband semiconductors at room temperature, which challenges the validity of the plasmon model under these conditions.