Electrical Tuning of Terahertz Plasmonic Crystal Phases

We present an extensive study of resonant two-dimensional (2D) plasmon excitations in grating-gated quantum well heterostructures, which enable an electrical control of periodic charge carrier density profile. Our study combines theoretical and experimental investigations of nanometer-scale AlGaN/GaN grating-gate structures and reveals that all terahertz (THz) plasmonic resonances in these structures can be explained only within the framework of the plasmonic crystal model. We identify two different plasmonic crystal phases. The first is the delocalized phase, where THz radiation is absorbed with the entire grating-gate structure that is realized at a weakly modulated 2D electron gas (2DEG) regime. In the second, the localized phase, THz radiation interacts only with the ungated portions of the structure. This phase is achieved by fully depleting the gated regions, resulting in strong modulation. By gate controlling of the modulation degree, we observe a continuous transition between these phases. We also discover that, unexpectedly, the resonant plasma frequencies of ungated parts (in the localized phase) still depend on the gate voltage. We attribute this phenomenon to the specific depletion of the conductive profile in the ungated region of the 2DEG, the so-called edge gating effect. Although we study a specific case of plasmons in AlGaN/GaN grating-gate structures, our results have a general character and are applicable to any other semiconductor-based plasmonic crystal structures. Our work represents the first demonstration of an electrically tunable transition between different phases of THz plasmonic crystals, which is a crucial step toward a deeper understanding of THz plasma physics and the development of all-electrically tunable devices for THz optoelectronics.