GaAs nanowhiskers for femtosecond photodetectors and THz emitters

We have developed and characterized ultrafast and highly sensitive photodetectors based on GaAs nanowhiskers fabricated with an improved top-down etching method. We evaluated the material properties of the etched nanowhiskers by micro photoluminescence measurements and studied the effect of post annealing on nanowhiskers´ luminescence. The nanowhiskers were integrated into the coplanar striplines for device testing using DC and time-resolved electro-optic characterization techniques. Our photodetectors exhibit a very low dark current below 500 pA at 10 V bias as well as a high responsivity of 0.19 A/W at 30 V, and a cut-off frequency of 1.3 THz. These characteristics make the GaAs nanowhisker photodetectors very promising candidates for high-speed optoelectronics and efficient THz emitters.