Radiofrequency Performance Analysis of Metal-Insulator-Graphene Diodes

This work presents the performance projection of a metal-insulator-graphene diode as the building block of a radiofrequency power detector, highlighting its rectifying figures of merit. The analysis was performed by means of a computer-aided design tool validated with experimental measurements of fabricated devices. Transient simulations were used to accurately determine the detector output voltage, while particular consideration was given to suitable convergence of the non-linear circuit response. The diode was analyzed in both ideal and non-ideal cases, with the latter accounting for its parasitic effects. In the non-ideal case, the diode exhibited a tangential responsivity of 26.9 V/W at 2.45 GHz and 31.9 V/W at 1.225 GHz. However, when parasitic elements were neglected in the ideal case, the responsivity significantly increased to 47.3 V/W at 2.45 GHz and 38.7 V/W at 1.225 GHz. Additionally, the diode demonstrated a non-linearity of 6.64 at 0.7 V and an asymmetry of 806.6 in a bias window of ±1 V, which resulted in a competitive value compared to other state-of-the-art rectifying technologies. Tangential responsivities (βv) of graphene diodes at less-studied frequencies in the gigahertz band are presented, showing a high βv value of 63.7 V/W at 1 GHz.