Strong THz Field Research Articles

Time-resolved photoemission spectroscopy on correlated electrons: Insights from dynamical mean-field theory

Time- and angular-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (trARPES) can directly probe the electronic structure of quantum materials out of equilibrium. This can shed light on the interaction of the electrons with spin, lattice, and orbital degrees of freedom, and help to unravel pathways towards novel out-of-equilibrium phases. Dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT) and its extensions provide a versatile toolbox to interpret such experiments through a theoretical simulation of the underlying microscopic processes. The approach can be applied both to Mott insulators and correlated metals, and it is formulated in terms of non-equilibrium Green's functions, which directly relate to the photoemission spectrum. This article reviews the theoretical description of trARPES within DMFT and related diagrammatic non-equilibrium Green's function techniques. Several applications are discussed, including the photo-induced melting of excitonic order, femtosecond relaxation processes in Mott insulators, and the manipulation of the electronic structure of Mott and charge transfer insulators using photo-doping and strong THz fields.

High-field THz pulses from a GaAs photoconductive emitter for non-linear THz studies.

We report the emission of high-field terahertz pulses from a GaAs large-area photoconductive emitter pumped with a Ti:Sapphire amplifier laser system at 800 nm wavelength and 1 kHz repetition rate. The maximum estimated terahertz electric field at the focus is ≳230 kV/cm. We also demonstrate the capability of the terahertz field to cause a non-linear effect, which usually requires high-field terahertz pulses generated through optical rectification or an air plasma. A significant drop in the optical conductivity of optically pumped GaAs due to Γ-L inter-valley scattering of free electrons caused by the strong THz field is found.

Room Temperature Terahertz Electroabsorption Modulation by Excitons in Monolayer Transition Metal Dichalcogenides.

The interaction between off-resonant laser pulses and excitons in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides is attracting increasing interest as a route for the valley-selective coherent control of the exciton properties. Here, we extend the classification of the known off-resonant phenomena by unveiling the impact of a strong THz field on the excitonic resonances of monolayer MoS2. We observe that the THz pump pulse causes a selective modification of the coherence lifetime of the excitons, while keeping their oscillator strength and peak energy unchanged. We rationalize these results theoretically by invoking a hitherto unobserved manifestation of the Franz-Keldysh effect on an exciton resonance. As the modulation depth of the optical absorption reaches values as large as 0.05 dB/nm at room temperature, our findings open the way to the use of semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides as compact and efficient platforms for high-speed electroabsorption devices.

Revealing Hund's multiplets in Mott insulators under strong electric fields

We investigate the strong-field dynamics of a paramagnetic two-band Mott insulator using real-time dynamical mean-field theory. A dielectric breakdown occurs due to many-body Landau-Zener tunnelling, with a threshold field determined by the gap. For a large range of fields, however, we predict that the tunnelling currents are small enough to allow the observation of field-induced localization of electrons, which becomes most strikingly evident in atomic-like local spin multiplets determined by the Hund's coupling $J$. This field-induced localization might provide a way of measuring the value of $J$ in correlated materials. It should be observable in transition metal oxides using time-resolved photo-emission spectroscopy or optical measurements in the presence of strong THz field transients.

Exciton ionization by THz pulses in germanium

After optical pumping, strong single cycle THz pulses are used to probe and manipulate excitons in bulk germanium. For strong THz fields a significant broadening and bleaching of the 1s–2p THz absorption peak is observed. The experimental results are analyzed using a microscopic many-body theory attributing the observations to a shortening of the excitonic state lifetime and eventual exciton ionization. Simultaneously, the ac THz Stark effect leads to a shift in the 1s–2p transition energy.

Saturation of photoresponse to intense THz radiation in AlGaN/GaN HEMT detector

We report on the photoresponse of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors to the THz radiation of low (15 mW/cm2) and high (up to 40 kW/cm2) intensities. We show that the response can be described by the Dyakonov-Shur theory in the whole range of radiation intensity. At low intensities, the photoresponse is linear in radiation intensity. Under intense laser radiation, we observe a saturation at intensities >20 kW/cm2. We explain our results by the change of the channel conductivity under the influence of strong THz field. This mechanism of photoresponse saturation, which is due to the mobility decrease in high ac electric field, should exist for any type of field effect transistor detectors.

Direct Current Generation in Carbon Nanotubes by Terahertz Field

We report on a theoretical investigation of a direct current generation in carbon nanotubes (CNTs) that are stimulated axially by terahertz (THz) field. We consider the kinetic approach based on the semiclassical Boltzmann’s transport equation with constant relaxation time approximation, together with the energy spectrum of an electron in the tight-binding approximation. Our results indicate that for strong THz-fields, there is simultaneous generation of DC current in the axial and circumferential directions of the CNTs, even at room temperature. We found that a THz-field can induce a negative conductivity in the CNTs that leads to the THz field induced DC current. For varying amplitude of the THz-field, the current density decreases rapidly and modulates around zero with interval of negative conductivity. The interval decreases with increasing the amplitude of the THz-field. We show that the THz-field can cause fast switching from a zero DC current to a finite DC current due to the quasi-ballistic transport, and that electron scattering is a necessary condition for switching.

Controlling Laser Filamentation Induced Strong THz Fields

This article reviews recent advances on tuning intense THz pulses generated from 2-color femtosecond laser filaments in gases. In particular, extended tunability of the THz pulses is shown via filamentation molding and the use of cleverly engineered metamaterials and eutectics.

Controlling the polarization dynamics by strong THz fields in photoexcited germanium quantum wells

The interaction of strong single-cycle THz pulses with the optically induced polarization in germanium quantum wells is studied. With increasing THz field strength, it is observed that the excitonic resonances shift toward higher energy and broaden before weak signatures of a splitting of the exciton line occur. In comparison with high-quality GaAs-based quantum wells, where a much clearer Autler–Townes splitting is observed, the germanium system response is significantly more broadened and shows signatures of a quasi-steady-state behavior due to the intrinsic fast dephasing times dominated by intervalley scattering.

Coherent detection of THz waves based on THz-induced time-resolved luminescence quenching in bulk gallium arsenide

A kind of photoluminescence quenching, in which the time-resolved photoluminescence is modulated by a THz pulse, has been theoretically investigated by performing the ensemble Monte Carlo method in bulk gallium arsenide (GaAs) at room temperature. The quenching ratio could reach up to 50% under a strong THz field (100 kV/cm). The range in which luminescence quenching is linearly proportional to the THz field could be over 60 kV/cm. On the basis of these results, a principle for THz modulation and coherent detection is proposed.

Microscopic model of the THz field enhancement in a metal nanoslit

We discuss the strong THz-field enhancement effect in a metal slit of dozens of nanometers sizes reported recently. Proposed simple microscopic model considers electric charges induced at the edges of the slit by a polarized incident wave. These charges contribute then to the field in the slit. The model is capable of explaining peculiarities of the field enhancement phenomenon such as an inverse frequency dependence of the enhancement factor. It provides closed-form expressions for the enhancement factor and field mapping inside the slit having only one fitting parameter. The model predicts influence of the slit shape on the field enhancement.

Ultrafast creation and annihilation of space-charge domains in a semiconductor superlattice observed by use of Terahertz fields

We report an experimental study indicating ultrafast creation and annihilation of space-charge domains in a semiconductor superlattice under the action of a THz field. Our experiment was performed for an InGaAs/InAlAs superlattice with the conduction electrons undergoing miniband transport. We applied to a superlattice a dc bias that was slightly smaller than a critical bias necessary for the formation of space-charge domains caused by a static negative differential conductivity. Additionally subjecting the superlattice to a strong THz field, resulted in a dc transport governed by the formation of domains if the frequency of the field was smaller than an upper frequency limit (~3 THz). From this frequency limit for the creation and annihilation of domains we determined the characteristic time of the domain buildup. Our analysis shows that the buildup time of domains in a wide miniband and heavily doped superlattice is limited by the relaxation time due to scattering of the miniband electrons at polar optic phonons. Our results are of importance for both an understanding of ultrafast dynamics of pattern formation in nanostructures and the development of THz electronic devices.

Transient-pulse nonlinear spectroscopy with the radiation of a multimode THz gas laser

We report on transient-pulse nonlinear spectroscopy with the radiation of a multimode THz gas laser. The method is demonstrated for studying the nonlinear response of a current-carrying superlattice to THz radiation; the current through a superlattice can be suppressed by a strong THz field. The method makes use of the pulses of a high power multimode THz gas laser. By splitting the laser beam for selected laser modes into a main beam and a reference beam we monitored with a reference detector the transient power in the main beam. The simultaneous measurement of both the instantaneous response and the instantaneous power allows to obtain the power dependence of the response within a single laser pulse. The method is suitable to study the nonlinear response of matter to THz radiation fields in a large dynamic range.

Mutual Optical Transparency through Quantum Wells in Strong Terahertz Fields

In the presence of a strong THz field, the exciton wavefunctions in a quantum well are described by Floquet states. As a consequence, exciton states dressed by a THz field have multiple optical resonances. If an optical beam is resonant with any of these frequencies, the beam is attenuated upon its transmission. Here we show that one can judiciously choose two coherent optical beams tuned to two different resonant frequencies, so that the beams produce no interband excitation, and thus are unattenuated.

Excitonic Dynamical Franz-Keldysh Effect

The dynamical Franz-Keldysh effect is exposed by exploring near-band-gap absorption in the presence of intense THz electric fields. It bridges the gap between the dc Franz-Keldysh effect and multiphoton absorption and competes with the THz ac Stark effect in shifting the energy of the excitonic resonance. A theoretical model which includes the strong THz field nonperturbatively via a nonequilibrium Green functions technique is able to describe the dynamical Franz-Keldysh effect in the presence of excitonic absorption.

Dynamic localization leading to full supression of the dc current in a GaAs/AlAs superlattice

We demonstrate that a strong THz-field (3.9 THz) can lead to full supression of the dc current through a GaAs/AlAs superlattice that shows, at room temperature, negative differential conductance. The miniband width (Δ=50meV) was much larger than the quantum energy of the radiation (16 meV). Using a semi-classical model we show that the miniband electrons do not relax during one period of the THz-field. In this case the reduction of the dc current can not be explained in terms of classical rectification caused by the non-linear current-voltage characteristic. Rather it is due to dynamic localization of electrons, performing frequency modulated Bloch oscillations.

THz-field induced nonlinear transport and dc voltage generation in a semiconductor superlattice due to Bloch oscillations

We report on a theoretical analysis of terahertz (THz-) field induced nonlinear dynamics of electrons in a semiconductor superlattice that are capable to perform Bloch oscillations. Our results suggest that for a strong THz-field a dc voltage should be generated. We have analyzed the real-time dynamics using a balance equation approach to describe the electron transport in a superlattice miniband. Taking account of both Bloch oscillations of electrons in a superlattice miniband and dissipation, we studied the influence of a strong THz-field on currently available superlattices at room temperature. We found that a THz-field can lead to a negative conductance resulting in turn in a THz-field induced dc voltage, and that the voltage per superlattice period should show, for varying amplitue of the THz-field, a form of wisted plateaus with the middle points being with high precision equal to the photon energy divided by the electron charge. We show voltage to the finite voltage state, and that in the finite voltage state dynamic localization of the electrons in a miniband occurs.