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Multiband Tunable Large Area Hot Carrier Plasmonic-Crystal Photodetectors

Optoelectronic functionalities of photodection and light harnessing rely on the band-to-band excitation of semiconductors, thus the spectral response of the devices is dictated and limited by their bandgap. A novel approach, free from this restriction, is to harvest the energetic electrons generated by the relaxation of a plasmonic resonance in the vicinity of a metal-semiconductor junction. In this configuration, the optoelectronic and spectral response of the detectors can be designed ad hoc just by tailoring the topology of metal structures, which has tremendous applications in solar energy harvesting and photodetection. Fully exploiting hot electron based optoelectronics yet requires a platform that combines their exotic spectral capabilities with large scale manufacturing and high performance. Herein we report the first implementation of a large area, low cost quasi 3D plasmonic crystal (PC) for hot electron photodetection, showcasing multiband selectivity in the VIS-NIR and unprecedented responsivity of 70 mA/W.