THz Photodetector using sideband-modulated transport through surface states of a 3D Topological Insulator

Abstract

The transport properties of the surface charge carriers of a three dimensional topological insulator under a terahertz (THz) field along with a resonant double barrier structure is theoretically analyzed within the framework of Floquet theory to explore the possibility of using such a device for photodetection purpose. We show that due to the contribution of elastic and inelastic scattering processes in the resulting transmission sidebands are formed in the conductance spectrum in somewhat similar way as in an optical cavity and this information can be used to detect the frequency of an unknown THz radiation. The dependence of the conductance on the bias voltage, the effect of THz radiation on resonances and the influence of zero energy points on the transmission spectrum are also discussed.