Hot Electron Energy Research Articles

Influence of the magnetic field on the emission of hot electrons and ions from ablative plasma produced from a disc-coil target irradiated by the 3rd harmonic of the PALS iodine laser

Abstract Experimental and theoretical study of plasma processes affected by strong laser generated magnetic fields is reported. The PALS laser system operating at 3ω (438.5 nm) delivered intensities up to 1×1016 W/cm2 on targets. By using a special target system consisting of a Cu foil connected to a sub-mm coil, magnetic fields up to the level of 10 T were generated. This is 1.4 times higher than the field generated with a 1.315 μm (1ω) laser beam at a comparable intensity. We found that these fields were sufficiently strong to modify plasma blow-off from the foil which resulted in the changed expansion dynamics and increased energy of hot electrons by 20-40% compared to the plasma unaffected by the magnetic field. To obtain complementary experimental data, a complex diagnostic system was used enabling the visualization of the plasma expansion process both in visible light (3-frame composite interferometry) and in the soft X-ray region (4-frame pinhole X-ray camera) together with measurements of the hot electron parameters using two-dimensional imaging of the Kα line emission from the Cu target and electron spectroscopy. Experimental data obtained from the angular distribution of electron energy spectra were used for three-dimensional (3D3V) numerical PIC simulations using a modified EPOCH code. By including interactions between ions, protons, hot and thermal electrons in forward and backward propagating particles, the effects of the magnetic field on the flux of hot electrons were visualized and compared with the experiment. The PIC simulation confirmed that the interaction of the hot electron flux with the magnetic field generated by the target-coil system leads to an increased flux energy. However, this increase is accompanied by increased complexity of the spatial structure and heterogeneity of the flux as well as its angular divergence.

Electron energy relaxation mechanism in n-type InxGa1-xAs1-yBiy alloys under electric and magnetic fields

We investigate the power loss per electron mechanism of hot electrons generated under electric and magnetic fields in n-type InxGa1-xAs1-yBiy epitaxial layers. Acoustic phonons are generated under various electric fields to determine the hot-electron energy relaxation mechanisms at low temperatures. The hot electron temperatures are determined by theoretical calculation of the amplitude of the magnetoresistance oscillation. The power loss per degenerate electron is analytically modeled with possible scattering mechanisms. The modeling of the experimental results reveals that power dissipation occurs by employing deformation potential energy scattering for all the samples. The deformation potential energy increases by ∼ 2.14 eV/Bi% when Bi atoms are introduced into ternary InGaAs alloy and the increase in the deformation potential energy is found to be independent of the electron density, which indicates that power dissipation occurs in the equipartition regime.

Anomalous hot electron generation from two-plasmon decay instability driven by broadband laser pulses with intensity modulations

We investigate the hot electrons generated from two-plasmon decay (TPD) instability driven by laser pulses with intensity modulated by a frequency Δω m using theoretical and numerical approaches. Our primary focus lies on scenarios where Δω m is on the same order of the TPD growth rate γ 0 ( Δωm∼γ0 ), corresponding to moderate laser frequency bandwidths for TPD mitigation. With Δω m conveniently modeled by a basic two-color scheme of the laser wave fields in fully-kinetic particle-in-cell simulations, we demonstrate that the energies of TPD modes and hot electrons exhibit intermittent evolution at the frequency Δω m , particularly when Δωm∼γ0 . With the dynamic TPD behavior, the overall ratio of hot electron energy to the incident laser energy, fhot , changes significantly with Δω m . While fhot drops notably with increasing Δω m at large Δω m limit as expected, it goes anomalously beyond the hot electron energy ratio for a single-frequency incident laser pulse with the same average intensity when Δω m falls below a specific threshold frequency Δω c . This anomaly arises from the pronounced sensitivity of fhot to variations in laser intensity. We find this threshold frequency Δω c primarily depends on γ 0 and the collisional damping rate of plasma waves, with relatively lower sensitivity to the density scale length. We develop a scaling model characterizing the relation of Δω c and laser plasma conditions, enabling the potential extention of our findings to more complex and realistic scenarios.

Dynamic characteristics of terahertz hot-electron graphene FET bolometers: Effect of electron cooling in channel and at side contacts

We analyze the operation of the hot-electron FET bolometers with the graphene channels (GCs) and the gate barrier layers. Such bolometers use the thermionic emission of the hot electrons heated by incident-modulated THz radiation. The hot electrons transfer from the GC into the metal gate. As the THz detectors, these bolometers can operate at room temperature. We show that the response and ultimate modulation frequency of the GC-FET bolometers are determined by the efficiency of the hot-electron energy transfer to the lattice and the GC side contacts due to the 2DEG lateral thermal conductance. The dependences of these mechanisms on the band structure and geometrical parameters open the way for the GC-FET bolometers optimization, in particular, for the enhancement of the maximum modulation frequency.

Collimated hot electron generation from sub-wavelength grating target irradiated by a femtosecond laser pulse of relativistic intensity

We investigate the production of hot electrons from the interaction of relativistically intense (I>1018 W/cm2) ultrashort (25 fs) laser pulses with sub-wavelength grating target. We measure the hot electron angular distribution and energy spectra for grating target and compare them with those from a planar mirror target. We observe that hot electrons are emitted in a collimated beam along the specular direction of the grating target. From the measurements, we see fast electron temperature and flux for grating are higher than those for mirror due to a stronger coupling with the laser. We performed numerical simulations, which are in good agreement with experimental results, and offer insights into the acceleration mechanism by resulting electric and magnetic fields. Such collimated fast electron beams have a wide range of applications in applied and fundamental science.

Enhancing Plasmonic Hot Electron Energy on Ag Surface by Amine Coordination.

Plasmonic catalysis has emerged as a promising approach to solar-chemical energy conversion. Notably, hot carriers play a decisive role in plasmonic catalysis since only when their energy matches with the LUMO or HOMO energy of the reactant molecule, can the reaction be activated. However, the hot carrier energy depends on the intrinsic physicochemical properties of the plasmonic metal substrate and the interaction with incident light. Tuning the hot carrier energy is of great significance for plasmonic catalysis but remains challenging. Here, we demonstrate that the energy of hot electrons can be significantly elevated to an unprecedented level through the coordination of amines on Ag surface. The bonding of amines and Ag reduces the work function of nanoparticles, leading to the increase of hot electron energy by 0.4 eV. This enhancement of energy promotes the cleavage of C-X (X=Cl, F) bonds upon excitation by visible light. This study provides new insights for promoting plasmonic charge transfer and enhancing the photocatalytic performance of plasmon-mediated systems.

Enhancing Plasmonic Hot Electron Energy on Ag Surface by Amine Coordination

AbstractPlasmonic catalysis has emerged as a promising approach to solar‐chemical energy conversion. Notably, hot carriers play a decisive role in plasmonic catalysis since only when their energy matches with the LUMO or HOMO energy of the reactant molecule, can the reaction be activated. However, the hot carrier energy depends on the intrinsic physicochemical properties of the plasmonic metal substrate and the interaction with incident light. Tuning the hot carrier energy is of great significance for plasmonic catalysis but remains challenging. Here, we demonstrate that the energy of hot electrons can be significantly elevated to an unprecedented level through the coordination of amines on Ag surface. The bonding of amines and Ag reduces the work function of nanoparticles, leading to the increase of hot electron energy by 0.4 eV. This enhancement of energy promotes the cleavage of C−X (X=Cl, F) bonds upon excitation by visible light. This study provides new insights for promoting plasmonic charge transfer and enhancing the photocatalytic performance of plasmon‐mediated systems.

Effects of hole transporting PEDOT:PSS on the photoemission of upconverted hot electron in Mn-doped CdS/ZnS quantum dots.

In this work, we investigated the effect of hole transporting poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) interfacing with Mn-doped CdS/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) deposited on an indium tin oxide (ITO) substrate on the photoemission of upconverted hot electrons under weak continuous wave photoexcitation in a vacuum. Among the various factors that can influence the photoemission of the upconverted hot electrons, we studied the role of PEDOT:PSS in facilitating the hole transfer from QDs and altering the energy of photoemitted hot electrons. Compared to hot electrons emitted from QDs deposited directly on the ITO substrate, the addition of the PEDOT:PSS layer between the QD and ITO layers increased the energy of the photoemitted hot electrons. The increased energy of the photoemitted hot electrons is attributed in part to the reduced steady-state positive charge on the QDs under continuous photoexcitation, which reduces the energy required to eject the electron from the conduction band.

Hot electron preheat in hydrodynamically scaled direct-drive inertial confinement fusion implosions on the NIF and OMEGA

Hot electron preheat has been quantified in warm, directly driven inertial confinement fusion implosions on OMEGA and the National Ignition Facility (NIF), to support hydrodynamic scaling studies. These CH-shell experiments were designed to be hydrodynamically equivalent, spanning a factor of 40 in laser energy and a factor of 3.4 in spatial and temporal scales, while preserving the incident laser intensity of 1015 W/cm2. Experiments with similarly low levels of beam smoothing on OMEGA and NIF show a similar fraction (∼0.2%) of laser energy deposited as hot electron preheat in the unablated shell on both OMEGA and NIF and similar preheat per mass (∼2 kJ/mg), despite the NIF experiments generating a factor of three more hot electrons (∼1.5% of laser energy) than on OMEGA (∼0.5% of laser energy). This is plausibly explained by more absorption of hot electron energy in the ablated CH plasma on NIF due to larger areal density, as well as a smaller solid angle of the imploding shell as viewed from the hot electron generating region due to the hot electrons being produced at a larger standoff distance in lower-density regions by stimulated Raman scattering, in contrast to in higher-density regions by two-plasmon decay on OMEGA. The results indicate that for warm implosions at intensities of around 1015 W/cm2, hydrodynamic equivalence is not violated by hot electron preheat, though for cryogenic implosions, the reduced attenuation of hot electrons in deuterium–tritium plasma will have to be considered.

Simulations of hot electron transport in the radiation-ablated plasmas

Abstract The transport of hot electrons in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is integrated problem due to the coupling of hydrodynamic evolution. Here a hot electron transport code is developed and coupled to the radiation hydrodynamic code MULTI1D. Using the code, the hot electron beam slowing-down and ablation processes are simulated. The ablation pressure scaling law of hot electron beams is confirmed in our simulations. We attempt to simulate the hot electron transport in the condition of indirect drive ICF, where the spatial profile of hot electron energy deposition is presented around the compressed region. It is shown the hot electron can prominently increase the total ablation pressure in the early phase of radiation-ablated plasmas. So, our studies suggest a potential driven asymmetry mechanism may occur due to irradiation of asymmetry energetic hot electron beam. The possible degradation from the hot electron transport and preheating is also discussed.

DRIFTS-SSITKA-MS investigations on the mechanism of plasmon preferentially enhanced CO2 hydrogenation over Au/γ-Al2O3

The localized plasmon resonance (LSPR) is recognized as an effective way to convert incident light energy and significantly boost the catalytic reaction. However, a comprehensive understanding of the plasmon-thermo coupling mechanism is still lacking. To address this knowledge gap, we investigate reaction pathway and plasmonic enhancement mechanism of the photo-thermo coupled catalytic reverse water gas shift (RWGS) reactions over Au/γ-Al2O3. The results indicate that both formate and carboxyl pathways contribute to the overall reaction. The m-formate pathway is suggested as the main reaction mechanism at low reaction temperature over small Au NPs. Spectro-kinetics and theoretical calculation analyses indicate that the plasmonic energy preferentially transfers to HCOO* via a combination of hot electron and resonance energy transfer mechanisms. The plasmonic energy facilitates the dehydration of HCOO* to CO, which is the rate-determining step (RDS) of the overall RWGS reaction.

Electron energy relaxation in SiGe quantum wells

In this article, we theoretically calculated the hot electron energy relaxation induced by longitudinal acoustic (LA) phonons, longitudinal optical (LO) phonons and importantly two-transverse acoustic (2TA) phonons in two-dimensional SiGe quantum wells, by incorporating dynamic screening effect in LA phonon scattering and hot-phonon effect in LO phonon scattering mechanisms. At the low-temperature regime, the ELR is found to be dominated by LA phonons and at higher temperature ELR is dominated by LO phonons. In the intermediate temperature range, 2TA phonon scattering mechanism is very important and we incorporated in our calculations. The unscreened longitudinal acoustic (LA) phonon due to deformation potential (DP) coupling is dominant over the screened acoustic piezoelectric phonon contribution. At higher temperatures, there is a crossover from ELR due to LA phonons to ELR due to longitudinal optical (LO) phonons with the cross-over temperature being about Te∼40K. The LA phonon screening effect and hot phonon effect is demonstrated to reduce ELR significantly. In the intermediate temperature range (30 K

Hot-electron preheat and mitigation in polar-direct-drive experiments at the National Ignition Facility.

Target preheat by superthermal electrons from laser-plasma instabilities is a major obstacle to achieving thermonuclear ignition via direct-drive inertial confinement fusion at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). Polar-direct-drive surrogate plastic implosion experiments were performed on the NIF to quantify preheat levels at an ignition-relevant scale and develop mitigation strategies. The experiments were used to infer the hot-electron temperature, energy fraction, and divergence, and to directly measure the spatial hot-electron energy deposition profile inside the imploding shell. Silicon layers buried in the ablator are shown to mitigate the growth of laser-plasma instabilities and reduce preheat, providing a promising path forward for ignition designs at an on-target intensity of about 10^{15}W/cm^{2}.

Thermoemission-Based Model of THz Detection and Its Validation—JLFET Case Studies

Silicon junctionless field-effect transistors (JLFETs) detect THz radiation even at frequencies above a few THz. This effect cannot be explained by classic laws of electron transport. The same behavior is observed for other types of FETs. However, the JLFET architecture makes this device an effective tool for testing the THz detection mechanism. In particular, a deeper insight into this effect is provided by a case study in which, the low concentration of electrons in the gate-controlled region contradicts potential plasmonic effects. Considering the experimental results, the authors critically discuss the plasmon-based theory of THz detection by JLFETs. Then, taking into account the revealed inconsistencies and based on numerical simulation results, they propose a simple, one-dimensional JLFET photoresponse model based on local electron heating at the channel–source contact which is located in the path of the THz signal between the gate and the source. The model is verified in a simulation-assisted experiment showing that the energy of hot electrons generates a sufficient photoelectric voltage, typical of silicon FETs integrated with antennas illuminated by THz radiation. The authors suggest that the model is universal and in the three-dimensional version it can successfully explain the THz detection by various FETs, especially those operating in the subthreshold range in which the electron concentration under the gate is very low.

Quantifying Hot Electron Energy Contributions in Plasmonic Photocatalysis Using Electrochemical Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy.

Due to the challenge in measuring hot electron energy under reaction conditions, very few studies focus on experimental determination of hot carrier energy. Here, we adjust the energy state of free electrons in Au nanoparticles to quantify the hot electron energy in plasmonic photocatalysis. Reactant molecules with different reduction potentials such as 4-nitrothiophenol (4-NTP), 4-iodothiophenol (4-ITP), etc. are chosen as molecular probes to investigate the reducing ability of hot electrons. By comparing the voltage required to achieve the same conversion of photo- and electro-reaction pathways, we calibrate the maximum energy efficiency of hot electrons in 4-NTP reduction to be 0.32 eV, which is much lower than the excitation photon energy of 1.96 eV. Our work provides insight into the energy distribution of hot electrons and will be helpful for rational design of highly efficient plasmon-mediated chemical reactions.

Indirect Measurement of Electron Energy Relaxation Time at Room Temperature in Two-Dimensional Heterostructured Semiconductors.

Hot carriers are a critical issue in modern photovoltaics and miniaturized electronics. We present a study of hot electron energy relaxation in different two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) structures and compare the measured values with regard to the dimensionality of the semiconductor formations. Asymmetrically necked structures containing different types of AlGaAs/GaAs single quantum wells, GaAs/InGaAs layers, or bulk highly and lowly doped GaAs formations were investigated. The research was performed in the dark and under white light illumination at room temperature. Electron energy relaxation time was estimated using two models of I-V characteristics analysis applied to a structure with n-n+ junction and a model of voltage sensitivity dependence on microwave frequency. The best results were obtained using the latter model, showing that the electron energy relaxation time in a single quantum well structure (2DEG structure) is twice as long as that in the bulk semiconductor.

Hot electron relaxation and energy loss rate in silicon: Temperature dependence and main scattering channels

In this work, we revisit the density functional theory (DFT)-based results for electron–phonon scattering in highly excited silicon. Using the state-of-the-art ab initio methods, we examine the main scattering channels, which contribute to the total electron–phonon scattering rate and the energy loss rate of photoexcited electrons in silicon as well as their temperature dependence. Both temperature dependence and the main scattering channels are shown to strongly differ for the total electron–phonon scattering rate and the energy loss rate of photoexcited electrons. While the total electron–phonon scattering rate increases strongly with temperature, the temperature dependence of the energy loss rate is negligible. Also, while acoustic phonons dominate the total electron–phonon scattering rate at 300 K, the main contribution to the energy loss rate comes from optical modes. In this respect, DFT-based results are found to disagree with conclusions of Fischetti et al. [Appl. Phys. Lett. 114, 222104 (2019)]. We explain the origin of this discrepancy, which is mainly due to differences in the description of the electron–phonon scattering channels associated with transverse phonons.

Passive near-field imaging via grating-based spectroscopy.

Passive scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) has recently been developed for studying long-wavelength infrared (LWIR) waves. It detects surface-localized waves without any external illumination or heating and enables the imaging of hot-electron energy dissipation and nanoscale Joule heating. However, the lack of a wavelength selection mechanism in the passive LWIR s-SNOM makes it difficult to perform a thorough analysis of the surface-localized waves. Here, we develop a novel passive scanning near-field optical spectroscopy with a diffraction grating. The spectroscopic optics are designed to exhibit a high signal efficiency and mechanical performance at the temperature of liquid helium (4.2K). Using the developed passive LWIR near-field spectroscopy, the spectral information of thermally excited evanescent waves can be directly obtained without any influence from the external environment factors, including environmental heat. We have detected the thermally excited evanescent waves on a SiC/Au micropatterned sample at room temperature with a spatial resolution of 200nm and a wavelength resolution of 500nm at several wavelengths in the range of 14-15 µm. The obtained spectra are consistent with the electromagnetic local density of states calculated based on the fluctuation-dissipation theorem. The developed passive LWIR near-field spectroscopy enables the spectral analysis of ultrasmall surface-localized waves, making it a high-performance surface analysis tool.

Energy and Momentum Distribution of Surface Plasmon-Induced Hot Carriers Isolated via Spatiotemporal Separation

Understanding the differences between photon-induced and plasmon-induced hot electrons is essential for the construction of devices for plasmonic energy conversion. The mechanism of the plasmonic enhancement in photochemistry, photocatalysis, and light-harvesting and especially the role of hot carriers is still heavily discussed. The question remains, if plasmon-induced and photon-induced hot carriers are fundamentally different or if plasmonic enhancement is only an effect of field concentration producing these carriers in greater numbers. For the bulk plasmon resonance, a fundamental difference is known, yet for the technologically important surface plasmons, this is far from being settled. The direct imaging of surface plasmon-induced hot carriers could provide essential insight, but the separation of the influence of driving laser, field-enhancement, and fundamental plasmon decay has proven to be difficult. Here, we present an approach using a two-color femtosecond pump-probe scheme in time-resolved 2-photon-photoemission (tr-2PPE), supported by a theoretical analysis of the light and plasmon energy flow. We separate the energy and momentum distribution of the plasmon-induced hot electrons from that of photoexcited electrons by following the spatial evolution of photoemitted electrons with energy-resolved photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM) and momentum microscopy during the propagation of a surface plasmon polariton (SPP) pulse along a gold surface. With this scheme, we realize a direct experimental access to plasmon-induced hot electrons. We find a plasmonic enhancement toward high excitation energies and small in-plane momenta, which suggests a fundamentally different mechanism of hot electron generation, as previously unknown for surface plasmons.

Effect of hot-electron energy distribution in the thermonuclear burn degradation in Directly-Driven Inertial Confinement Fusion

Effect of hot-electron energy distribution in the thermonuclear burn degradation in Directly-Driven Inertial Confinement Fusion