THz Wave Detection by Antenna-Coupled Nanoscale Thermoelectric Converters

We present a terahertz (THz) wave detector based on antenna-coupled single-metal nanoscale thermocouples. The dipole antenna is tuned to receive 600-GHz electromagnetic waves, and the nanoscale thermoelectric converter (NTEC) converts the heat, generated by the dissipated antenna currents to electrical signals. The measured polarization- and thermopile-length-dependent responses of these THz detectors, configured in thermopiles with various lengths, confirms that the measured signal is the result of the heating caused by the radiation-induced antenna currents and detected by the NTEC.