Light-field-driven current control in solids with pJ-level laser pulses at 80  MHz repetition rate

Hanuš, V.; Csajbók, Viktória; Pápa, Zsuzsanna; Budai, Judit; Márton, Zsuzsanna; Kiss, Gellért Zsolt; Sándor, Péter; Paul, Pallabi; Szeghalmi, Adriana; Wang, Zilong; Bergues, Boris; Kling, Matthias F.; Molnár, György; Volk, János; Dombi, Péter

doi:10.1364/optica.420360

Cited by 28 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 28 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In experiments, quasi-dc residual currents after the laser excitation were observed. A wide variety of materials has been used as media, such as SiO 2 [3][4][5], CaF 2 [4,6], Al 2 O 3 [4], GaN [5,7,8] and HfO 2 [5]. Among them, graphene shows its unique character both experimentally [9][10][11][12][13] and theoretically [14,15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atomic real-space perspective of light-field-driven currents in graphene

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

When graphene is exposed to a strong few-cycle optical field, a directional electric current can be induced depending on the carrier-envelope phase of the field. This phenomenon has successfully been explained by the charge dynamics in reciprocal space, namely an asymmetry in the conduction band population left after the laser excitation. However, the corresponding real-space perspective has not been explored so far although it could yield knowledge about the atomic origin of the macroscopic currents. In this work, by adapting the nearest-neighbor tight-binding model including overlap integrals and the semiconductor Bloch equation, we reveal the spatial distributions of the light-field-driven currents on the atomic scale and show how they are related to the light-induced changes of charge densities. The atomic-scale currents flow dominantly through the network of the π bonds and are the strongest at the bonds parallel to the field polarization, where an increase of the charge density is observed. The real-space maps of the currents and changes in charge densities are elucidated using simple symmetries connecting real and reciprocal space. We also discuss the strong-field-driven Rabi oscillations appearing in the atomic-scale charge densities. This work highlights the importance of real-space measurements and stimulates future time-resolved atomic-scale experimental studies with high-energy electrons or X-rays, for examples.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atomic real-space perspective of light-field-driven currents in graphene

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The light is polarized in a way that the polarization vector points from one electrode to the opposite. The measurement of CEP-dependent ultrafast currents is known to exhibit a dependence on the size of the gap of the sensing electrodes [8]. Therefore, we designed electrodes shape in a way that several gap sizes are available close to each other and they form five segments, each 5 µm long, so that the focused beam would fit well into each segment.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Light-Field-Controlled PHz Currents in Metals

Fehér,

Hanus,

et al. 2024

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Oriented electric currents in metals are routinely driven by applying an external electric potential. Although the response of electrons to the external electric fields occurs within attoseconds, conventional electronics do not utilize this speed potential. Ultrafast laser technology, which delivers laser pulses with controlled shapes of electric fields that switch direction at PHz frequencies, opens new perspectives for driving electric currents in metals. Here, we demonstrate an interaction of light with nm-thick metallic layers, that leads to a generation of PHz-bandwidth electric currents, providing evidence that currents in metals can be optically controlled. We show that the implantation of metallic layers into a dielectric matrix leads up to 40 times increase of the sensitivity in contrast to bare dielectric, decreasing the intensity threshold for the lightwave electronics. We establish a link between electronic and optical properties by identifying an empirical relationship between the index of nonlinear susceptibility X(3) and the generated current. We provide an intraband-motion model elucidating the origin of the measured current.

show abstract

“…Für die ultraschnelle Elektronik war damit demonstriert: Ströme lassen sich in weniger als 1 fs ein‐ und wieder ausschalten, sobald die angeregten Ladungsträger ins Valenzband zurückfinden. Unlängst konnte ein ungarisches Team um Péter Dombi die Strominjektion in Siliziumdioxid und weiteren Isolatoren bei erheblich niedrigeren Feldstärken (4 V/nm) mit verbesserter Messstatistik wiederholen [8]. Damit kommt ultraschnelle Elektronik in Isolatoren in Reichweite, ohne den großen technischen Aufwand von Hochleistungslasern.…”

Section: Strommessungen An Festkörpernunclassified