Terahertz Generation and Detection by Plasma Waves in Nanometer Gate High Electron Mobility Transistors

The high electron mobility transistors can act as a resonator cavity for the plasma waves that can reach THz frequencies for a nanometer size devices. As was predicted by Dyakonov and Shur in 1993, the steady state of the current flow in a gated 2D electron gas can become unstable leading to the emission of an electromagnetic radiation at the plasma wave frequencies. The theory predicted also that the plasma waves can be used for resonant detection of THz electromagnetic radiation. In the present paper we review our recent experiments on THz emission and detection performed on high electron mobility transistors based on different semiconductor structures: InGaAs/GaAlAs, GaAs/GaAlAs, and Si.