Improving the performance of a GaAs nanowire photodetector using surface plasmon polaritons

GaAs nanowires (NWs) are ideal materials for preparing near-infrared photodetectors owing to their high charge carrier mobility and direct band gap. Although the performance of GaAs NW photodetectors can be enhanced by surface passivation or doping, it still cannot meet the requirement for applications. In this paper we propose a method to greatly improve the performances of GaAs NW photodetectors by hot-hole injection via surface plasmon polaritons. In this case, the responsivity of a single GaAs NW photodetector is increased by a fact of 3.2 to 6.56 A· W^-1 by attaching capsule-like Au nanoparticles to its surface. This research uses an efficient route to improve the NW photocurrent, which is also important for the development of a high-performance near-infrared NW photodetecor.