Helicity-Sensitive Plasmonic Terahertz Interferometer
Yakov Matyushkin, S. N. Danilov, Maxim Moskotin, Vsevolod Belosevich, N. Kaurova, Maxim Rybin, Е. Д. Образцова, Georgy Fedorov, Ilya Gorbenko, V. Yu. Kachorovskii, Sergey Ganichev
Abstract
Plasmonic interferometry is a rapidly growing area of research with a huge potential for applications in the terahertz frequency range. In this Letter, we explore a plasmonic interferometer based on graphene field effect transistor connected to specially designed antennas. As a key result, we observe helicity- and phase-sensitive conversion of circularly polarized radiation into dc photovoltage caused by the plasmon-interference mechanism: two plasma waves, excited at the source and drain part of the transistor, interfere inside the channel. The helicity-sensitive phase shift between these waves is achieved by using an asymmetric antenna configuration. The dc signal changes sign with inversion of the helicity. A suggested plasmonic interferometer is capable of measuring the phase difference between two arbitrary phase-shifted optical signals. The observed effect opens a wide avenue for phase-sensitive probing of plasma wave excitations in two-dimensional materials.