Terahertz emission from InAs induced by photo-Dember effect: Hydrodynamic analysis and Monte Carlo simulations

Abstract

Terahertz emission from InAs excited by the femtosecond optical pulse is investigated. The hydrodynamic model is developed for the simplified analysis of the terahertz emission induced by the photo-Dember effect. The hydrodynamic model predicts that the amplitude of the transient photocurrent is proportional to the difference between the squared velocities of photoexcited electrons and holes. The predictions of the hydrodynamic model are compared to the results of the rigorous ensemble Monte Carlo simulations. The dependences of the intensity of terahertz emission on the optical fluence, on the photon energy, and on the optical pulse duration are studied. At low intensities of the optical pulse, the emitted terahertz energy is proportional to the power ranging between 3/2 and 2 of the optical pulse intensity. The emitted terahertz energy saturates at high intensities of the optical pulse. The spectral dependence of the terahertz emission from InAs is investigated. It is found that the intensity of terahertz emission profoundly depends on the optical pulse duration.