Extremely Nonperturbative Nonlinearities in GaAs Driven by Atomically Strong Terahertz Fields in Gold Metamaterials
Extremely Nonperturbative Nonlinearities in GaAs Driven by Atomically Strong Terahertz Fields in Gold Metamaterials
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DOI：
10.1103/physrevlett.113.227401
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发表时间：
2014-11-26
影响因子：
8.6
通讯作者：
Huber, R.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Lange, C.;Maag, T.;Huber, R.
共振频率为0.88太赫兹的金超材料的太赫兹近场允许我们进入非微扰超快太赫兹电子的极限：在keV范围内达到质量动力能量的场被利用来驱动非破坏性，准静态带间隧道和未掺杂的体GaAs中的冲击电离，注入密度超过10(19)cm（-3）的电子空穴等离子体。该过程在带隙以上能量高达0.5 eV的地方产生明亮的发光，并诱导超材料共振的完全关闭，伴随着传输的少周期太赫兹瞬态的自调幅。我们的研究结果为高度非线性太赫兹光学和光电子纳米电路的亚皮秒开关时间铺平了道路。
Terahertz near fields of gold metamaterials resonant at a frequency of 0.88 THz allow us to enter an extreme limit of nonperturbative ultrafast terahertz electronics: Fields reaching a ponderomotive energy in the keV range are exploited to drive nondestructive, quasistatic interband tunneling and impact ionization in undoped bulk GaAs, injecting electron-hole plasmas with densities in excess of 10(19) cm(-3). This process causes bright luminescence at energies up to 0.5 eV above the band gap and induces a complete switch-off of the metamaterial resonance accompanied by self-amplitude-modulation of transmitted few-cycle terahertz transients. Our results pave the way towards highly nonlinear terahertz optics and optoelectronic nanocircuitry with subpicosecond switching times.