Integrated near-infrared photodetector based on colloidal HgTe quantum dot loaded plasmonic waveguide

We propose and demonstrate an ultracompact near-infrared (NIR) photodetector based on the hybrid integration of a surface plasmon polariton (SPP) optical guiding structure and the colloidal mercury telluride (HgTe) quantum dots (QDs). The photodetector achieves a responsivity of 10 mA/W at low input power. We also show that short ligand exchange process can dramatically increase the conductivity and responsivity of the photodetector.