A room temperature, or moderately cooled, fast THz semiconductor hot electron bolometer

A fast THz bolometer is proposed in which, unlike the conventional thermal one, electromagnetic radiation heats only electrons in a narrow gap semiconductor without its lattice inertial heating. Under determined conditions, this heating changes generation–recombination processes that cause the carrier number to decrease and the semiconductor resistance to rise. The Hg 0.8 Cd 0.2 Te detector noise equivalent power in the range of 77–300 K can reach ∼10 −11 W for frequencies of about 1 THz and signal gain frequency bandwidth of 1 Hz. Measurements with the device prototype confirmed the concept of the proposed bolometer creation.