Quasi-1D Electronic Metadevices With Enhanced Electrical Properties

Electronic metadevices leveraging sub-wavelength metallic features have shown great potential for high-frequency switching. Theoretical analysis based on a one-dimensional (1D) model indicates that reducing the size of subwavelength features can enhance electrical properties, such as contact resistance and switching cutoff frequency. Here, we report contact resistance values more than 10 times higher than expected in electronic metadevices when the subwavelength feature size is aggressively downscaled. We attribute this effect to transverse currents in the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) running parallel to the stripe width. We present the first experimental demonstration of a metadevice governed by a one-dimensional model—referred to as a quasi-1D electronic metadevice—and show that it enables enhanced electrical performance by suppressing transverse currents. Our findings pave the way to design next generation electronic metadevice switches with applications in future telecommunication circuits.