AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors as a voltage-tunable room temperature terahertz sources

We report on room temperature terahertz generation by a submicron size AlGaN/GaN-based high electron mobility transistors. The emission peak is found to be tunable by the gate voltage between 0.75 and 2.1 THz. Radiation frequencies correspond to the lowest fundamental plasma mode in the gated region of the transistor channel. Emission appears at a certain drain bias in a thresholdlike manner. Observed emission is interpreted as a result of Dyakonov–Shur plasma wave instability in the gated two-dimensional electron gas.