Indium Antimonide Plasmonic Nanostructures for Tunable Terahertz Sources

Abstract

In this work, procedures were successfully created and deployed for the development, characterization, and study of indium antimonide nanostructures as well as their terahertz plasmonic response. Using molecular beam epitaxy, indium antimonide was successfully grown on Gallium Arsenide (100) substrates of various surface misorientations. The resulting indium antimonide showed a reflection high energy electron diffraction pattern characteristic of a single-crystal epitaxial layer. These layers were then characterized through, Nomarski interference contrast microscopy, atomic force microscopy, high-resolution x-ray diffraction, and electron channeling contrast imaging. Cleaved samples from these growths were also used in developing a nanofabrication procedure to produce structures where the largest dimension was 4μm. Ultraviolet photolithography and inductively coupled plasma etching were used to shape the indium antimonide material. Electromagnetic simulations were also carried out to demonstrate the tunable response of a localized surface plasmon resonance. The localized surface plasmon resonance frequency is demonstrated to depend on the temperature of the indium antimonide. This project will serve as a stepping stone for the pathway into the development of tunable indium antimonide terahertz plasmonic devices for use in conjunction with terahertz sources.