Plasmon drag effect with sharp polarity switching

TL;DR

This paper investigates the plasmon drag effect in strongly modulated plasmonic metasurfaces, revealing asymmetric photocurrent behavior and polarity switching near resonance, with implications for plasmonic electronic devices.

Contribution

It demonstrates the polarity switching of photocurrents in plasmonic metasurfaces and explores the coupling between localized and propagating plasmons as the underlying mechanism.

Findings

Photocurrents exhibit highly asymmetric angular dependence.

Polarity switching occurs around plasmon resonance conditions.

Coupling between localized and propagating plasmons is involved.

Abstract

The generation of significant photocurrents observed in plasmonic metasurfaces is interesting from a fundamental point of view and promising for applications in plasmon-based electronics and plasmonic sensors with compact electrical detection. We show that photoinduced voltages in strongly modulated plasmonic surfaces demonstrate a highly asymmetric angular dependence with polarity switching around the plasmon resonance conditions. The effects are tentatively attributed to coupling between localized and propagating plasmons.