Nanoscaled, tunable detector devices for ultrasensitive detection of terahertz (THz) radiation based on the fabrication of one-dimensional (1D) plasma devices having clouds of strongly correlated and spatially confined electronic charge carriers are disclosed. These one-dimensional collective excitations (“plasmons”) are realized using coaxial semiconducting core-shell nanowires or by electrostatically confining a two dimensional charge to one dimension. By exploiting the properties of plasmons confined to reduced dimensions and under a selected device configuration, conventional limitations on carrier drift and transit times that dictate the speed and sensitivity of transistors can be circumvented, and detector sensitivity can be improved. 1D devices with sub-picosecond response times will be important for a range of applications in diverse areas such as remote sensing and imaging, molecular spectroscopy, biotechnology, and in a range of the spectrum that has been difficult to detect. In addition to electromagnetic radiation these devices can be used as detectors of charged particle perturbations.