Attosecond laser science points the way to petahertz optoelectronics

March 12, 2018

Electronics and optoelectronics that operate at the 10-18 s timescale are the desire, attosecond spectroscopy the learning tool.

John Wallace

Scheme of the experimental pump–probe setup. (A) An intense few-cycle infrared (IR) laser pulse is combined with a single attosecond probe pulse with a spectrum in the extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) energy regime. (B) & (C) Illustration of IR-induced inter- and intraband transitions. Adapted from Schlaepfer et al., Nature Physics doi:10.1038/s41567-018-0069-0 (2018).

Physicists at ETH Zürich have for the first time resolved the response of electrons in gallium arsenide at the attosecond (10^-18s) timescale -- gaining unexpected insights for future ultrafast optoelectronic devices with operation frequencies in the petahertz regime.

Which dominates -- interband or intraband?

Gallium arsenide is a technologically important narrow-band-gap semiconductor, in which the excitation of electrons from the valence into the conduction band produces charge carriers that can transport electrical current through electronics components. In addition to this so-called interband transition, carriers can also be accelerated within the individual bands as the electrons interact with the laser light. This is due to the strong electric field associated with the laser light, leading to intraband motion. Which of the two mechanisms dominates the response to a short intense laser pulse, and how their interplay effects the carrier injection into the conduction band, is far from obvious.

Fabian Schlaepfer and his colleagues in Ursula Keller's group at the Institute for Quantum Electronics have studied these processes for the first time at the attosecond timescale, combining transient absorption spectroscopy with state-of-the-art first-principles calculations. They found that intraband motion has indeed an important role, as it significantly enhances the number of electrons that get excited into the conduction band.¹

This finding was unexpected because intraband motion alone is unable to produce charge carriers in the conduction band. These results therefore represent an important step forward in understanding the light-induced electron dynamics in a semiconductor on the attosecond timescale, which will be of practical relevance for future electronics and optoelectronics devices, whose dimensions become ever smaller, and the electric fields involved ever stronger and the dynamics ever faster.

Source: https://www.phys.ethz.ch/news-and-events/d-phys-news/2018/03/a-milestone-in-petahertz-electronics.html

REFERENCE:
1. Schlaepfer F. et al., Nature Physics (2018); doi: 10.1038/s41567-018-0069-0

About the Author

John Wallace | Senior Technical Editor (1998-2022)

John Wallace was with Laser Focus World for nearly 25 years, retiring in late June 2022. He obtained a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and physics at Rutgers University and a master's in optical engineering at the University of Rochester. Before becoming an editor, John worked as an engineer at RCA, Exxon, Eastman Kodak, and GCA Corporation.