Optical rectification and thermal currents in optical tunneling gap antennas

Mennementeuil, M. M.; Buret, M.; Francs, Gérard Colas des; Bouhélier, Alexandre

doi:10.1515/nanoph-2022-0278

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Even if this term leads to a Tien-Gordon-like distribution given by Eq. ( 3), the hot carrier distribution remains extremely small because of electron heating and heat leakage to the lattice as studied by Dubi and Sivan 25,34 . Moreover, the equivalent temperature of excitation is smaller than 0.3 K and we see in the following that this temperature remains smaller than the temperature induced by the power absorption in the lead.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of optical rectification in photon-assisted tunneling current

et al. 2023

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Emission of light and conversely rectification of an optical signal using an all-metallic electronic device is of fundamental and technological importance for nano-optics. However despite recent experimental efforts in the development of electrically-driven plasmonic sources, the interplay between quantum transport and optics is still under debate. Here, we measure the photon-assisted current in a planar tunnel junction under infrared illumination. To address the microscopic mechanism at the origin of the optical rectification, we compare the photon-assisted current and the current-voltage characteristic of the junction measured on a voltage range much greater than $${V}_{0}=\frac{hc}{e\lambda }=0.825\,{{{{{{{\rm{V}}}}}}}}$$ V 0 = h c e λ = 0.825 V , previously unexplored. The experimental results do not agree with the theory based on the existence of a non-thermal distribution function corresponding to the exchange of energy quanta between electrons and photons. We show instead that the illumination power mainly goes into heating and that the rectification results from the tunneling Seebeck effect.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of optical rectification in photon-assisted tunneling current

et al. 2023

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“…Despite recent efforts to understand the interplay of phenomena in these systems, , a comprehensive framework for manipulating direct photocurrents using plasmonics at the nanoscale is still largely missing. A strategy to engineer their spatial distribution, control their strength, and dictate their direction remains to be rigorously formulated theoretically, optimized through numerical simulations, and verified experimentally.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Femtosecond Drift Photocurrents Generated by an Inversely Designed Plasmonic Antenna

Mou,

Yang,

Vega

et al. 2024

Nano Lett.

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Photocurrents play a crucial role in various applications, including light detection, photovoltaics, and THz radiation generation. Despite the abundance of methods and materials for converting light into electrical signals, the use of metals in this context has been relatively limited. Nanostructures supporting surface plasmons in metals offer precise light manipulation and induce light-driven electron motion. Through the inverse design optimization of a gold nanostructure, we demonstrate enhanced volumetric, unidirectional, intense, and ultrafast photocurrents via a magneto-optical process derived from the inverse Faraday effect. This is achieved through fine-tuning the amplitude, polarization, and gradients in the local light field. The virtually instantaneous process allows dynamic photocurrent modulation by varying optical pulse duration, potentially yielding nanosources of intense, ultrafast, planar magnetic fields and frequency-tunable THz emission. These findings open avenues for ultrafast magnetic material manipulation and hold promise for nanoscale THz spectroscopy.

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“…1−4 The creation of hot carriers and their manipulation are topics of considerable current interest in plasmonics because they hold the potential of new device physics or opening new chemical reaction pathways, leading to novel applications in photochemistry, 2,5,6 photocatalysis, 7,8 photovoltaic devices, 9 biosensors, 10 and photodetectors on Schottky contacts, 11−14 metal−semiconductor−metal (MSM) structures, 15 and metal−insulator−metal (MIM) structures. 16,17 MIM structures have also been used as optical rectifying tunneling-gap nanoantennas, 18,19 and as electrically driven optical nanoantennas for surface plasmon generation and light emission via inelastic tunneling. 20−26 The ability of MIM tunnelling junctions to create and detect surface plasmons can be combined to introduce high-speed compact electronicplasmonic transceivers.…”

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The creation of hot carriers and their manipulation are topics of considerable current interest in plasmonics because they hold the potential of new device physics or opening new chemical reaction pathways, leading to novel applications in photochemistry, ,, photocatalysis, , photovoltaic devices, biosensors, and photodetectors on Schottky contacts, – metal–semiconductor–metal (MSM) structures, and metal–insulator–metal (MIM) structures. , …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Infrared Surface Plasmons Open a Hole Tunneling Channel in Metal–Oxide–Semiconductor Structures

Naeini

Berini

2023

ACS Photonics

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Plasmonic hot carriers on metal−oxide−semiconductor (MOS) diodes hold the promise of innovative optoelectronics on structures of fundamental technological importance. We report the photoresponse of MOS diodes due to the tunneling of hot holes created in the metal contact via the absorption of infrared (λ 0 ≈ 1550 nm, ℏω ≈ 0.8 eV) surface plasmons therein. In the absence of illumination, only one tunneling channel exists under inversion, that of inversion electrons tunneling from the semiconductor conduction band through the oxide barrier into the metal, leading to the dark current. Under illumination, the excitation and decay of surface plasmons in the metal opens a second channel, that of hot holes created in the metal, tunneling through the oxide into the semiconductor valence band, leading to the photocurrent�this channel does not exist otherwise due to the absence of holes in a metal. Theoretical modeling of all tunneling current components (dark and photo) using the Fowler−Nordheim and Modified Fowler−Nordheim models are in excellent agreement with the measurements, and their fit allows extraction of the tunneling effective masses of both carrier types in the oxide of our MOS structures (hafnia). This new plasmon-induced tunneling channel on MOS structures opens the possibility of novel infrared optoelectronic devices on this technologically important structure..

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Optical rectification and thermal currents in optical tunneling gap antennas

Cited by 6 publications

References 38 publications

Role of optical rectification in photon-assisted tunneling current

Role of optical rectification in photon-assisted tunneling current

Femtosecond Drift Photocurrents Generated by an Inversely Designed Plasmonic Antenna

Infrared Surface Plasmons Open a Hole Tunneling Channel in Metal–Oxide–Semiconductor Structures

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