Drift current dominated terahertz radiation from InN at low-density excitation

Abstract

This letter investigates the polarity of terahertz radiation from indium nitride (InN) excited by femtosecond optical pulses wherein a central wavelength of around 790nm is measured. The InN epilayers are grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on sapphire and silicon substrates. The polarity of the terahertz radiation field from InN is opposite to that from p-InAs whose radiation mechanism is dominated by the photo-Dember effect indicating that the dominant radiation mechanism in InN is the drift current induced by the internal electric field at low-density excitation below 590nJ∕cm2. The internal electric field consists of the surface accumulation field and the spontaneous polarization-induced electric field. In addition, since no azimuthal angle dependence of the terahertz radiation is observed, the optical rectification effect is ruled out. By comparing the wave forms of terahertz radiation from the front and the back of the InN sample grown on sapphire in reflection geometry, the N polarity of the InN sample is confirmed.