Electrical tunability of terahertz nonlinearity in graphene

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Kovalev, Sergey, Hafez, Hassan A., Tielrooij, Klaas-Jan, Deinert, Jan-Christoph, Ilyakov, Igor, Awari, Nilesh, Alcaraz, David, Soundarapandian, Karuppasamy, Saleta, David, Germanskiy, Semyon, Chen, Min, Bawatna, Mohammed, Green, Bertram, Koppens, Frank H. L., Mittendorff, Martin, Bonn, Mischa, Gensch, Michael, Turchinovich, Dmitry
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Kovalev, Sergey
Hafez, Hassan A.
Tielrooij, Klaas-Jan
Deinert, Jan-Christoph
Ilyakov, Igor
Awari, Nilesh
Alcaraz, David
Soundarapandian, Karuppasamy
Saleta, David
Germanskiy, Semyon
Chen, Min
Bawatna, Mohammed
Green, Bertram
Koppens, Frank H. L.
Mittendorff, Martin
Bonn, Mischa
Gensch, Michael
Turchinovich, Dmitry
author_facet Kovalev, Sergey
Hafez, Hassan A.
Tielrooij, Klaas-Jan
Deinert, Jan-Christoph
Ilyakov, Igor
Awari, Nilesh
Alcaraz, David
Soundarapandian, Karuppasamy
Saleta, David
Germanskiy, Semyon
Chen, Min
Bawatna, Mohammed
Green, Bertram
Koppens, Frank H. L.
Mittendorff, Martin
Bonn, Mischa
Gensch, Michael
Turchinovich, Dmitry
contents Graphene is conceivably the most nonlinear optoelectronic material. Its nonlinear optical coefficients in the terahertz (THz) frequency range surpass those of other materials by many orders of magnitude. This, in particular, allows one to use graphene for extremely efficient up-conversion of sub-THz electronic input signals into the THz frequency range at room temperature and under ambient conditions, thus paving the way for practical graphene-based ultrahigh-frequency electronic technology. Here, we show that the THz nonlinearity of graphene can be efficiently controlled using electrical gating, with gating voltages as low as a few volts. For example, optimal electrical gating enhances the power conversion efficiency in THz third-harmonic generation in graphene by about two orders of magnitude. This essentially converts graphene from an almost perfectly linear, inert electronic material to a material with the highest possible THz nonlinearity. We demonstrate gating control of THz nonlinearity of graphene for both ultrashort single-cycle and quasi-monochromatic multi-cycle input signals. Our experimental results are in quantitative agreement with a physical model of graphene nonlinearity, describing the time-dependent thermodynamic balance maintained within the electronic population of graphene during interaction with ultrafast electric fields. Our results can serve as a basis for straightforward and accurate design of devices and applications for efficient electronic signal processing in graphene at ultra-high frequencies.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_24651
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Electrical tunability of terahertz nonlinearity in graphene
Kovalev, Sergey
Hafez, Hassan A.
Tielrooij, Klaas-Jan
Deinert, Jan-Christoph
Ilyakov, Igor
Awari, Nilesh
Alcaraz, David
Soundarapandian, Karuppasamy
Saleta, David
Germanskiy, Semyon
Chen, Min
Bawatna, Mohammed
Green, Bertram
Koppens, Frank H. L.
Mittendorff, Martin
Bonn, Mischa
Gensch, Michael
Turchinovich, Dmitry
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Graphene is conceivably the most nonlinear optoelectronic material. Its nonlinear optical coefficients in the terahertz (THz) frequency range surpass those of other materials by many orders of magnitude. This, in particular, allows one to use graphene for extremely efficient up-conversion of sub-THz electronic input signals into the THz frequency range at room temperature and under ambient conditions, thus paving the way for practical graphene-based ultrahigh-frequency electronic technology. Here, we show that the THz nonlinearity of graphene can be efficiently controlled using electrical gating, with gating voltages as low as a few volts. For example, optimal electrical gating enhances the power conversion efficiency in THz third-harmonic generation in graphene by about two orders of magnitude. This essentially converts graphene from an almost perfectly linear, inert electronic material to a material with the highest possible THz nonlinearity. We demonstrate gating control of THz nonlinearity of graphene for both ultrashort single-cycle and quasi-monochromatic multi-cycle input signals. Our experimental results are in quantitative agreement with a physical model of graphene nonlinearity, describing the time-dependent thermodynamic balance maintained within the electronic population of graphene during interaction with ultrafast electric fields. Our results can serve as a basis for straightforward and accurate design of devices and applications for efficient electronic signal processing in graphene at ultra-high frequencies.
title Electrical tunability of terahertz nonlinearity in graphene
topic Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.24651