Optical bistability of graphene in the terahertz range

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that monolayer graphene exhibits optical bistability in the terahertz range, with potential applications in nonlinear photonics, by solving the Boltzmann equation for its nonlinear response.

Contribution

It provides an exact analytical solution for the nonlinear optical response of graphene in the THz range, highlighting the prominence of monolayer graphene for optical bistability.

Findings

Monolayer graphene shows optical bistability in the THz range.

The nonlinear response is strongest in monolayer graphene compared to bilayer and trilayer.

Third harmonic generation current is also calculated.

Abstract

We use an exact solution of the relaxation-time Boltzmann equation in a uniform AC electric field to describe the nonlinear optical response of graphene in the terahertz (THz). The cases of monolayer, bilayer and ABA-stacked trilayer graphene are considered, and the monolayer species is shown to be the most appropriate one to exploit the nonlinear free electron response. We find that a single layer of monolayer graphene shows an optical bistability in the THz range, within the electromagnetic power range attainable in practice. The current associated with the third harmonic generation is also computed.