Photocurrent as a multiphysics diagnostic of quantum materials

The photoexcitation life cycle from incident photon (and creation of photoexcited electron–hole pair) to ultimate extraction of electrical current is a complex multiphysics process spanning across a range of spatiotemporal scales of quantum materials. Photocurrent is sensitive to a myriad of physica...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ma, Qiong, Kumar, Roshan Krishna, Xu, Su-Yang, Koppens, Frank H. L., Song, Justin Chien Wen
Other Authors: School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/169093
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
Description
Summary:The photoexcitation life cycle from incident photon (and creation of photoexcited electron–hole pair) to ultimate extraction of electrical current is a complex multiphysics process spanning across a range of spatiotemporal scales of quantum materials. Photocurrent is sensitive to a myriad of physical processes across these spatiotemporal scales, and over the past decade it has emerged as a versatile probe of electronic states, Bloch band quantum geometry, quantum kinetic processes and device characteristics of quantum materials. This Technical Review outlines the key multiphysics principles of photocurrent diagnostics, for resolving band structure and characterizing topological materials, for disentangling distinct types of carrier scattering that can range from femtosecond to nanosecond timescales and for enabling new types of remote-sensing protocols and photocurrent nanoscopy. These distinctive capabilities underscore photocurrent diagnostics as a novel multiphysics probe for a growing class of quantum materials with properties governed by physics spanning multiple spatiotemporal scales.