THz operation of asymmetric-nanochannel devices

The THz spectrum lies between microwaves and the mid-infrared, a region that remains largely unexplored mainly due to the bottleneck issue of lacking compact, solid state, emitters and detectors. Here, we report on a novel asymmetric-nanochannel device, known as the self-switching device, which can operate at frequencies up to 2.5 THz for temperature up to 150 K. This is, to our knowledge, not only the simplest diode but also the quickest acting electronic nanodevice reported to date. The radiation was generated by the free electron laser FELIX (Netherlands). The dependences of the device efficiency as a function of the electric bias, radiation intensity, radiation frequency and temperature are reported.