Plasmonics-enabled semiconductor photodetectors

Abstract

The ever increasing demand for high-speed data processing requires faster operation of computer processors and peripherals. Despite the continual improvement in semiconductor technology processes which, in turn, leads to corresponding increases in logic gate switching frequency, the speed of the modern central processing units remains relatively constant. This speed limitation is primarily determined by metallic interconnects in the integrated circuits. Numerous enhancements have been introduced to conventional CMOS technology in order to decrease the resistance and capacitance of the interconnects. Even though these changes have markedly improved the characteristics of interconnects, furthe..