In this paper, an overview of main results concerning THz detection by nanometer field effect transistors (FETs) and heterojunction based transistors (HBTs) is presented. Different GaInAs/InP and GaN/AlGaN nanometer field effect transistors based detectors are presented. We present also first Silicon C-MOS transistors based integrated circuits for wireless communication in sub-THz range. Special attention is given to transistors based focal plane arrays. We show, how these arrays, together with in purpose developed diffractive 3D printed optics lead to construction of the demonstrators of safety and industrial quality control scanners.

Cyclotron resonance spectra in high magnetic fields up to 34 T in InAs/GaSb/InAs “three-layer” quantum wells with gapless Dirac fermions have been studied. In quantizing magnetic fields, an absorption line associated with transitions from the lower Landau levels of electrons in a subband with a “conical” dispersion relation has been detected. Experimental energies of the transitions have been compared to theoretical calculations with the eight-band Kane Hamiltonian. The results confirm the gapless band structure of the studied samples.

—We present the low frequency noise and the photoresponse in InP double heterojunction bipolar transistor (DHBT) THz detectors. A current responsivity of 0.23 A/W and a noise equivalent power of 4·10-10 W/Hz 1/2 have been measured at 1 kHz modulation frequency. The collector bias can substantially reduce the noise equivalent power.

A graphene ballistic rectifier is used in conjunction with an antenna to demonstrate a rectenna as a terahertz (THz) detector. A small-area (<1 μm2) local gate is used to adjust the Fermi level in the device to optimize the output while minimizing the impact on the cutoff frequency. The device operates in both n- and p-type transport regimes and shows a peak extrinsic responsivity of 764 V/W and a corresponding noise equivalent power of 34 pW Hz–1/2 at room temperature with no indications of a cutoff frequency up to 0.45 THz. The device also demonstrates a linear response for more than 3 orders of magnitude of input power due to its zero threshold voltage, quadratic current–voltage characteristics and high saturation current. Finally, the device is used to take an image of an optically opaque object at 0.685 THz, demonstrating potential in both medical and security imaging applications.

We report on the temperature-dependent magnetospectroscopy of two HgTe/CdHgTe quantum wells below and above the critical well thickness dc. Our results, obtained in magnetic fields up to 16 T and s temperature range from 2 to 150 K, clearly indicate a change in the band-gap energy with temperature. A quantum well wider than dc evidences a temperature-driven transition from topological insulator to semiconductor phases. At a critical temperature of 90 K, the merging of inter- and intraband transitions in weak magnetic fields clearly specifies the formation of a gapless state, revealing the appearance of single-valley massless Dirac fermions with a velocity of 5.6×105ms−1. For both quantum wells, the energies extracted from the experimental data are in good agreement with calculations on the basis of the eight-band Kane Hamiltonian with temperature-dependent parameters.

Compact and fast detectors, for imaging and wireless communication applications, require efficient rectification of electromagnetic radiation with frequencies approaching 1 THz and modulation bandwidth up to a few tens of GHz. This can be obtained only by using a mature technology allowing monolithic integration of detectors with low-noise amplifiers. One of the best candidates is indium phosphide bipolar transistor (InP HBT) technology. In this work, we report on room temperature high sensitivity terahertz detection by InP double-heterojunction bipolar transistors (DHBTs) operating in a large frequency range (0.25–3.1 THz). The performances of the DHBTs as terahertz sensors for communications were evaluated showing the modulation bandwidth of investigated DHBTs close to 10 GHz.

The band structure of three-layer symmetric InAs/GaSb/InAs quantum wells confined between AlSb barriers is analyzed theoretically. It is shown that, depending on the thicknesses of the InAs and GaSb layers, a normal band structure, a gapless state with a Dirac cone at the center of the Brillouin zone, or inverted band structure (two-dimensional topological insulator) can be realized in this system. Measurements of the cyclotron resonance in structures with gapless band spectra carried out for different electron concentrations confirm the existence of massless Dirac fermions in InAs/GaSb/InAs quantum wells.