Position sensitivity of optical nano-antenna arrays on optoelectronic devices

Optical nano-antennas (ONAs) are designed for enhancing light-harvesting efficiency in wireless transmission of optical energy and/or signals, which are of great interests in photodetection or solar energy conversion, particularly in micro-/nanoscale systems such as micro-/nanorobots, implantable sensors, and nanoelectromechanical systems, where self-power is not readily available due to a too small volume of the system itself. A critical challenge for the integration of ONAs is how to rationally place ONAs at the “sweetest” regions in the photoactive devices for more effective photodetection or photovoltaics, which offset the application of ONAs in optoelectronic devices. Here, we exploit a near-infrared pentamer ONAs arrays taking few-layer molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) as photodetectors to investigate the effect of common locations of ONAs on photocurrent amplification. We show that additional photocurrent amplification (larger than ~ 60% in our devices) can be achieved by placing ONAs close to the depletion regions, i.e., the interface between functional elements and one of the metal electrodes, demonstrating the strong position sensitivity of ONAs on optoelectronic devices. Additionally, the maximum photoresponsivity of few-layer MoS₂ photodetectors under the wavelength of 830 nm had been achieved up to ~ 250 mA/W based on the optical filed enhancement and absorption modulation of MoS₂ nanosheets with our near-infrared pentamer ONAs, indicating its application for near-infrared photodetection. Finally, the maximum responsivity of MoS₂-based nanodevice with pentamer ONA arrays (~ 0.111 mA/W) under self-powered conditions is enhanced by a factor of ~ 7 as against MoS₂-based nanodevice without pentamer ONA arrays. These findings are expected to be valuable for the development of more efficient light-harvesting schemes for both optoelectronic devices and implantable or in-body micro-/nanosystems.