Super-diffusive sub-picosecond extraction of hot carriers in black phosphorous

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Yoshioka, Katsumasa, Wakamura, Taro, Okamoto, Takuya, Kumada, Norio
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Yoshioka, Katsumasa
Wakamura, Taro
Okamoto, Takuya
Kumada, Norio
author_facet Yoshioka, Katsumasa
Wakamura, Taro
Okamoto, Takuya
Kumada, Norio
contents Harvesting hot carriers before they lose energy to the lattice is a critical route toward surpassing the conventional thermodynamic limit in optical-to-electrical (O-E) conversion. However, photocurrent from such hot carriers has remained challenging to directly detect because they equilibrate on picosecond timescales, outpacing conventional electronic measurement. Here, by employing terahertz electronics with sub-picosecond temporal resolution, we directly monitor hot-carrier-driven O-E conversion in black phosphorus (BP). Photoexcitation near the metal contact under zero source-drain bias generates an ultrafast photocurrent with a decay time of ~400 fs, orders of magnitude faster than the typical sub-nanosecond energy relaxation in BP, demonstrating a measured 3 dB bandwidth of 260 GHz with an intrinsic limit of ~600 GHz. Notably, this photocurrent flows via energetic holes toward the contact electrode, regardless of the equilibrium carrier type, revealing a super-diffusive hot-carrier extraction mechanism. Furthermore, we show that the ultrafast hot-carrier contribution can coexist with the much slower cold-carrier contribution based on the photovoltaic effect, demonstrating that hot carriers can be harvested without discarding lower-energy carriers. These findings highlight the potential of sub-picosecond hot-carrier extraction to expand the O-E conversion bandwidth without sacrificing efficiency, bridging fundamental hot-carrier physics with ultrahigh-speed technological applications.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_14550
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Super-diffusive sub-picosecond extraction of hot carriers in black phosphorous
Yoshioka, Katsumasa
Wakamura, Taro
Okamoto, Takuya
Kumada, Norio
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Harvesting hot carriers before they lose energy to the lattice is a critical route toward surpassing the conventional thermodynamic limit in optical-to-electrical (O-E) conversion. However, photocurrent from such hot carriers has remained challenging to directly detect because they equilibrate on picosecond timescales, outpacing conventional electronic measurement. Here, by employing terahertz electronics with sub-picosecond temporal resolution, we directly monitor hot-carrier-driven O-E conversion in black phosphorus (BP). Photoexcitation near the metal contact under zero source-drain bias generates an ultrafast photocurrent with a decay time of ~400 fs, orders of magnitude faster than the typical sub-nanosecond energy relaxation in BP, demonstrating a measured 3 dB bandwidth of 260 GHz with an intrinsic limit of ~600 GHz. Notably, this photocurrent flows via energetic holes toward the contact electrode, regardless of the equilibrium carrier type, revealing a super-diffusive hot-carrier extraction mechanism. Furthermore, we show that the ultrafast hot-carrier contribution can coexist with the much slower cold-carrier contribution based on the photovoltaic effect, demonstrating that hot carriers can be harvested without discarding lower-energy carriers. These findings highlight the potential of sub-picosecond hot-carrier extraction to expand the O-E conversion bandwidth without sacrificing efficiency, bridging fundamental hot-carrier physics with ultrahigh-speed technological applications.
title Super-diffusive sub-picosecond extraction of hot carriers in black phosphorous
topic Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.14550