arXiv subjects

Elefterios Lidorikis

Publications and source records attributed to Elefterios Lidorikis.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Graphene-enabled coherent (sub-)terahertz wave detection and thickness determination

Phase-sensitive terahertz (THz) detection enables applications ranging from astronomy to non-destructive testing. However, current THz detectors lack phase sensitivity, unless they are combined with external interferometers, or through photomixing. This implies a large footprint and sensitive dependence on alignment. Here, we demonstrate a graphene-enabled, on-chip, integrated (sub-)THz detector-interferometer with optical cavity and antenna, exhibiting high sensitivity to the phase of incident THz light. We exploit this by determining the thickness of thin films placed in front of the detector-interferometer, obtaining a deep sub-wavelength thickness accuracy of a few micrometer, while we predict that an improved accuracy is within reach. This is relevant for a range of industrial application domains, including automotive, construction, and health. We furthermore achieve a record-high external responsivity - considering bias-free graphene-based (sub-)THz detectors - of 172 mA/W and a noise-equivalent power of 26 pW$~\rm{Hz}^{-1/2}$. This performance is due to enhanced absorption at the resonant cavity mode around 89 GHz, in agreement with multi-physics simulations. These results pave the way to exploiting coherent wave detection in the (sub-)THz regime with utility in spectroscopy, next-generation wireless communication, and beyond.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2026

C-band 160 Gbs-1 Zero-bias Graphene Photodetectors: Breaking the Responsivity-Bandwidth Trade-off by Heterostructure Engineering

Graphene photodetectors offer ultrafast response and broadband operation, but their responsivity is typically limited by rapid hot-carrier cooling, leading to a trade-off between sensitivity and speed. Here, we demonstrate that modifying the dielectric environment provides an effective route to control hot-carrier cooling and enhance device performance. By employing a WSe2 encapsulation architecture, we suppress out-of-plane energy dissipation, leading to an increased cooling length (~2.68 um) and a reduced heat-exchange coefficient. As a result, we obtain zero-bias graphene photodetectors with responsivities up to ~0.12 A/W (potentially ~0.4 A/W) while maintaining ultrafast operation beyond the setup-limited 110 GHz bandwidth. The devices enable direct detection at data rates of 120 Gb s-1 (NRZ) and 160 Gb s-1 (PAM-4), with performance achieved using minimal digital signal processing. These results establish dielectric engineering as a key design axis for controlling hot-carrier dynamics, enabling energy-efficient, high-speed optical receivers for next-generation interconnects and AI-driven data systems.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2026

Enhanced Terahertz Photoresponse via Acoustic Plasmon Cavity Resonances in Scalable Graphene

Precise control and nanoscale confinement of terahertz (THz) fields are essential requirements for emerging applications in photonics, quantum technologies, wireless communications, and sensing. Here, we demonstrate a polaritonic cavity enhanced THz photoresponse in an antenna coupled device based on chemical vapor deposited (CVD) monolayer graphene. The dipole antenna lobes simultaneously serve as two gate electrodes, concentrate the impinging THz field, and efficiently launch acoustic graphene plasmons (AGPs), which drive a strong photo-thermoelectric (PTE) signal. Between 6 and 90 K, the photovoltage exhibits pronounced peaks, modulating the PTE response by up to 40\%, that we attribute to AGPs forming a Fabry Pérot THz cavity in the full or half graphene channel. Combined full wave and transport thermal simulations accurately reproduce the gate controlled plasmon wavelength, spatial absorption profile, and the resulting nonuniform electron heating responsible for the PTE response. The lateral and vertical maximum confinement factors of the AGP wavelength relative to the incident wavelength are 165 and 4000, respectively, for frequencies from 1.83 to 2.52 THz. These results demonstrate that wafer scalable CVD graphene, without hBN encapsulation, can host coherent AGP resonances and exhibit an efficient polaritonic enhanced photoresponse under appropriate gating, antenna coupling, and AGP cavity design, opening a route to scalable, polarization and frequency selective, liquid nitrogen cooled, and low power consumption THz detection platforms based on plasmon thermoelectric transduction.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Enhanced THz third-harmonic generation in graphene via hot-carriers in a topological cavity

Graphene is a promising material for nonlinear THz applications owing to its high third-order susceptibility and tunable optical properties. Its strong nonlinear response, driven by free-carrier thermodynamics, facilitates efficient third-harmonic generation (THG), which can be further enhanced using resonant metasurfaces and plasmonic structures. In this study, we use a platform that integrates graphene ribbons at the interface of topological photonic crystals designed to boost THG at low THz frequencies. To accurately capture the temperature dependence of the nonlinear optical response, we perform coupled simulations to model graphene's optical and thermodynamic responses under THz photoexcitation, incorporating photoinduced hot carrier effects within a multiphysics computational framework. This approach unveils the influence of carrier heating on THG, providing a more accurate description of nonlinear THz processes and revealing previously overlooked mechanisms of third-order conductivity modulation. We show that the elevated carrier temperature promotes high conversion efficiencies at moderate input intensities, within a design that operates in both reflection and transmission modes for advanced ultrafast optoelectronic devices in the THz regime.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2024

Multispectral Polarization-Insensitive Graphene/Silicon Guided Mode Resonance Active Metasurfaces

We investigate advanced CMOS-compatible Graphene/Silicon active metasurfaces based on guided-mode resonance filters. The simulated results show a high extinction ratio (>25 dB), narrow linewidth (~1.5 nm @1550 nm), quality factor of Q~1000, and polarization-insensitive operation. By taking advantage of graphene broadband absorption, we present a multispectral operation in the MIR using simple geometrical scaling rules. We further showcase that the same device architecture can be employed for thermo-optic tuning using graphene as an integrated microheater. Our work contributes to the development of advanced broadband silicon-based active metasurfaces for tunable spectral filters and laser mirrors, optical switches, modulators, and sensors.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2024

High-Speed Graphene-based Sub-Terahertz Receivers enabling Wireless Communications for 6G and Beyond

In recent years, the telecommunications field has experienced an unparalleled proliferation of wireless data traffic. Innovative solutions are imperative to circumvent the inherent limitations of the current technology, in particular in terms of capacity. Carrier frequencies in the sub-terahertz (sub-THz) range (~0.2-0.3 THz) can deliver increased capacity and low attenuation for short-range wireless applications. Here, we demonstrate a direct, passive and compact sub-THz receiver based on graphene, which outperforms state-of-the-art sub-THz receivers. These graphene-based receivers offer a cost-effective, CMOS-compatible, small-footprint solution that can fulfill the size, weight, and power consumption (SWaP) requirements of 6G technologies. We exploit a sub-THz cavity, comprising an antenna and a back mirror, placed in the vicinity of the graphene channel to overcome the low inherent absorption in graphene and the mismatch between the areas of the photoactive region and the incident radiation, which becomes extreme in the sub-THz range. The graphene receivers achieve a multigigabit per second data rate with a maximum distance of ~3 m from the transmitter, a setup-limited 3 dB bandwidth of 40 GHz, and a high responsivity of 0.16 A/W, enabling applications such as chip-to-chip communication and close proximity device-to-device communication.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2024

Electrical Spectroscopy of Polaritonic Nanoresonators

One of the most captivating properties of polaritons is their capacity to confine light at the nanoscale. This confinement is even more extreme in two-dimensional (2D) materials. 2D polaritons have been investigated by optical measurements using an external photodetector. However, their effective spectrally resolved electrical detection via far-field excitation remains unexplored. This fact hinders their potential exploitation in crucial applications such as sensing molecules and gases, hyperspectral imaging and optical spectrometry, banking on their potential for integration with silicon technologies. Herein, we present the first electrical spectroscopy of polaritonic nanoresonators based on a high-quality 2D-material heterostructure, which serves at the same time as the photodetector and the polaritonic platform. We employ metallic nanorods to create hybrid nanoresonators within the hybrid plasmon-phonon polaritonic medium in the mid and long-wave infrared ranges. Subsequently, we electrically detect these resonators by near-field coupling to a graphene pn-junction. The nanoresonators simultaneously present a record of lateral confinement and high-quality factors of up to 200, exhibiting prominent peaks in the photocurrent spectrum, particularly at the underexplored lower reststrahlen band of hBN. We exploit the geometrical and gate tunability of these nanoresonators to investigate their impact on the photocurrent spectrum and the polaritonic's waveguided modes. This work opens a venue for studying this highly tunable and complex hybrid system, as well as for using it in compact platforms for sensing and photodetection applications.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2024

High Performance Graphene Integrated Photonics Platform Enabled by Gold-assisted Transfer

Graphene is promising for nanoscale, efficient, ultra-fast photo- and opto-electronic devices because of its remarkable electrical and optical properties, such as fast electron relaxation and heat dissipation. Here, we realize high-performance graphene integrated photonics platform enabled by gold-assisted transfer. Thanks to our optimized transfer technique, we fabricate and demonstrate (1) a microscale thermo-optic modulator with a tuning efficiency of 0.037 nm/mW and high heating performance of 67.4 K$μm^{3}mW^{-1}$ on a small active area of 7.54 $μm^{2}$ and (2) a graphene electro-absorption modulator featuring an high modulation bandwidth up to 26.8 GHz and a high-speed data rate reaching 48 Gb/s, and (3) a graphene Mach-Zehnder interferometer modulator with a high normalized modulation efficiency of 0.027 dBV$^{-1}μm^{-1}$. Our graphene integrated photonics platform has far superior performances compared to state of the art in terms of efficiency, low process complexity, and compact device footage. Thus, our approach and results provide the background for the realization of high-performance integrated photonic circuits with CMOS compatibility.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2020

Plasmonic antenna coupling to hyperbolic phonon-polaritons for sensitive and fast mid-infrared photodetection with graphene

Integrating and manipulating the nano-optoelectronic properties of Van der Waals heterostructures can enable unprecedented platforms for photodetection and sensing. The main challenge of infrared photodetectors is to funnel the light into a small nanoscale active area and efficiently convert it into an electrical signal. Here, we overcome all of those challenges in one device, by efficient coupling of a plasmonic antenna to hyperbolic phonon-polaritons in hexagonal-BN to highly concentrate mid-infrared light into a graphene pn-junction. We balance the interplay of the absorption, electrical and thermal conductivity of graphene via the device geometry. This novel approach yields remarkable device performance featuring room temperature high sensitivity (NEP of 82 pW-per-square-root-Hz) and fast rise time of 17 nanoseconds (setup-limited), among others, hence achieving a combination currently not present in the state-of-the-art graphene and commercial mid-infrared detectors. We also develop a multiphysics model that shows excellent quantitative agreement with our experimental results and reveals the different contributions to our photoresponse, thus paving the way for further improvement of these types of photodetectors even beyond mid-infrared range.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Fast and Sensitive Terahertz Detection Using an Antenna-Integrated Graphene pn Junction

Although the detection of light at terahertz (THz) frequencies is important for a large range of applications, current detectors typically have several disadvantages in terms of sensitivity, speed, operating temperature, and spectral range. Here, we use graphene as a photoactive material to overcome all of these limitations in one device. We introduce a novel detector for terahertz radiation that exploits the photothermoelectric (PTE) effect, based on a design that employs a dual-gated, dipolar antenna with a gap of 100 nm. This narrow-gap antenna simultaneously creates a pn junction in a graphene channel located above the antenna and strongly concentrates the incoming radiation at this pn junction, where the photoresponse is created. We demonstrate that this novel detector has an excellent sensitivity, with a noise-equivalent power of 80 pW-per-square-root-Hz at room temperature, a response time below 30 ns (setup-limited), a high dynamic range (linear power dependence over more than 3 orders of magnitude) and broadband operation (measured range 1.8-4.2 THz, antenna-limited), which fulfills a combination that is currently missing in the state-of-the-art detectors. Importantly, on the basis of the agreement we obtained between experiment, analytical model, and numerical simulations, we have reached a solid understanding of how the PTE effect gives rise to a THz-induced photoresponse, which is very valuable for further detector optimization.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy of Graphene Integrated in Plasmonic Silicon Platforms with Three-Dimensional Nanotopography

Integrating graphene with plasmonic nanostructures results in multifunctional hybrid systems with enhanced performance for numerous applications. In this work, we take advantage of the remarkable mechanical properties of graphene to combine it with scalable 3D plasmonic nanostructured silicon substrates, which enhance the interaction of graphene with electromagnetic radiation. Large areas of femtosecond laser-structured arrays of silicon nanopillars, decorated with gold nanoparticles, are integrated with graphene, which conforms to the substrate nanotopography. We obtain Raman spectra at 488, 514, 633, and 785 nm excitation wavelengths, spanning the entire visible range. For all excitation wavelengths, the Raman signal of graphene is enhanced by 2-3 orders of magnitude, similarly to the highest enhancements measured to date, concerning surface-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) of graphene on plasmonic substrates. Moreover, in contrast to traditional deposition and lithographic methods, the fabrication method employed here relies on single-step, maskless, cost-effective, rapid laser processing of silicon in water, amenable to large-scale fabrication. Finite-difference time-domain simulations elucidate the advantages of the 3D topography of the substrate. Conformation of graphene to the Au-decorated silicon nanopillars enables graphene to sample near fields from an increased number of nanoparticles. Due to synergistic effects with the nanopillars, different nanoparticles become more active for different wavelengths and locations on the pillars, providing broadband enhancement. Nanostructured plasmonic silicon is a promising platform for integration with graphene and other 2D materials, for next-generation applications of large-area hybrid nanomaterials in the fields of sensing, photonics, optoelectronics, and medical diagnostics.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2018

Deep and fast free-space electro-absorption modulation in a mobility-independent graphene-loaded Bragg resonator

Deep and fast electro-optic modulation is critical for high-speed near infrared signal processing. We combine the electro-absorption tunability of graphene with the high-Q resonance of a Bragg-based Fabry-Perot resonator at λ=1550 nm and show that ~100% free-space signal modulation (>50 dB extinction ratio, <1 dB insertion loss) at high speed (>1 GHz) can always be achieved independently of graphene quality (mobility), provided the device is operating in reflection mode and tuned in critical coupling with graphene. Remarkably, the critical coupling mechanism produces a higher extinction ratio for lower graphene mobility. We use practical considerations to optimize the device architecture and operation as a function of graphene mobility. With a small modification this scheme can be turned into a very sensitive acousto-absorption modulator with a ~30 dB/Å extinction ratio, or an index sensor with 10^7 %/RIU sensitivity. These designs can be easily extended throughout the midIR spectrum by appropriate scaling of layer thicknesses.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2018

Flat-band localization and self-collimation of light in photonic crystals

We investigate the optical properties of a photonic crystal composed of a quasi-one-dimensional flat-band lattice array through finite-difference time-domain simulations. The photonic bands contain flat bands (FBs) at specific frequencies, which correspond to compact localized states as a consequence of destructive interference. The FBs are shown to be nondispersive along the $Γ\rightarrow X$ line, but dispersive along the $Γ\rightarrow Y$ line. The FB localization of light in a single direction only results in a self-collimation of light propagation throughout the photonic crystal at the FB frequency.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2015

Highly Sensitive Gas and Temperature Sensor Based on Conductance Modulation in Graphene with Multiple Magnetic Barriers

The electronic and transport properties of graphene modulated by magnetic barrier arrays are derived for finite temperature. Prominent conductance gaps, originating from quantum interference effects are found in the periodic array case. When a structural defect is inserted in the array, sharp defect modes of high conductance appear within the conductance gaps. These modes can be shifted by local doping in the defect region resulting into sensing of the chemical molecules that adhere on the graphene sheet. In general it is found that sensitivity is strongly dependent on temperature due to smoothing out of the defect-induced peaks and transport gaps. This temperature dependence, however, offers the added capability for sub-mK temperature sensing resolution, and thus an opportunity towards ultra-sensitive combined electrochemical-calorimetric sensing.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2004

Enhancement of microcavity lifetimes using highly dispersive materials

We show analytically, and numerically that highly-dispersive media can be used to drastically increase lifetimes of high-Q microresonators. In such a resonator, lifetime is limited either by undesired coupling to radiation, or by intrinsic absorption of the constituent materials. The presence of dispersion weakens coupling to the undesired radiation modes and also effectively reduces the material absorption.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2004

Ultra Low-Power All-Optical Switching

Using analytical modeling and detailed numerical simulations, we investigate properties of hybrid systems of Photonic Crystal micro-cavities which incorporate a highly non-linear Ultra Slow Light medium. We demonstrate that such systems, while being miniature in size (order wavelength), and integrable, could enable ultra-fast non-linear all-optical switching at single photon energy levels.

physics.optics↗