High-frequency rectifiers based on type-II Dirac fermions

Here, we demonstrate high-frequency rectification driven by skew scattering in type-II Dirac semimetal NiTe2-based devices that display a remarkably high sensitivity even at frequencies higher than those limited by the transit-time, owing to the contribution of topologically protected surface and bulk bands. Due to the presence of the type-II Dirac nodes close to the Fermi energy and the topological surface states, NiTe2 features high mobility and broadband fast response in the high frequency region.
L. Zhang et al., Nature Communications 12, 1584 (2021)

The advent of topological semimetals enables the exploitation of symmetry-protected topological phenomena and quantized transport. Here, we present homogeneous rectifiers, converting high-frequency electromagnetic energy into direct current, based on low-energy Dirac fermions of topological semimetal-NiTe2, with state-of-the-art efficiency already in the first implementation. Explicitly, these devices display room-temperature photosensitivity as high as 251 mA W−1 at 0.3 THz in an unbiased mode, with a photocurrent anisotropy ratio of 22, originating from the interplay between the spin-polarized surface and bulk states. Device performances in terms of broadband operation, high dynamic range, as well as their high sensitivity, validate the immense potential and unique advantages associated to the control of nonequilibrium gapless topological states via built-in electric field, electromagnetic polarization and symmetry breaking in topological semimetals. These findings pave the way for the exploitation of topological phase of matter for high-frequency operations in polarization-sensitive sensing, communications and imaging.

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L. Zhang et al., Nature Communications 12, 1584 (2021)
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21906-w