Enhanced current density and asymmetry of metal–insulator–metal diodes based on self-assembly of Pt nanoparticles

Optical rectennas consist of nano-antennas and nano-scale rectifying diodes, providing extensive prospects for thermal radiation energy harvesting applications. To achieve this, high current density asymmetry must be simultaneously obtained in diodes with ultra-high-speed responses to optical frequencies. In this study, we report a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) diode strongly enhanced electric field achieved via the self-assembly uniform Pt nanoparticles (NPs) using atomic layer deposition. An enhancement several orders magnitude system comparison conventional MIM was realized by shaping tunneling barrier. The efficiency proposed experimentally confirmed that significantly exceeds without NPs 231 times. Furthermore, strategy can integrated various advanced tunnel high-performance rectennas.