Optoelectronic Devices on Index-near-Zero Substrates

Light absorption in metal films can excite hot carriers, which are useful for photodetection, solar energy conversion, and many other applications. However, metals are highly reflective, and therefore, careful optical design is required to achieve high absorption in these films. Here we utilize a subwavelength Fabry-Pérot-like resonance in conjunction with an index-near-zero (INZ) substrate to achieve near-unity absorption and hot carrier photocurrent in nanoscale metal films. By employing aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) as the INZ medium in the near-infrared range, we enhance the metal film absorption by nearly a factor of 2. To exploit this absorption enhancement in an optoelectronic device, we fabricate a Schottky photodiode and find that the photocurrent generated in Pt on Si is enhanced by >80% with the INZ substrate. The enhancement arises from a combination of improved carrier generation and carrier transport resulting from the addition of the AZO film.