Photocurrent in nanostructures with asymmetric antidots

TL;DR

This paper presents an exact kinetic model for photocurrent generation in a 2D system with asymmetric antidots and impurity scatterers, revealing polarization-dependent responses and non-analytic behavior related to impurity scattering rates.

Contribution

It introduces a solvable kinetic equation model for photocurrent in asymmetric nanostructures, capturing polarization effects and impurity scattering non-analyticity.

Findings

Exact solution for static current response in second order of electric field.

Photogalvanic tensor includes responses to linear and circular polarization.

Non-analytic dependence on impurity scattering rate.

Abstract

The steady current induced by electromagnetic field in a 2D system with asymmetric scatterers is studied. The scatterers are assumed to be oriented cuts with one diffusive and another specular sides. Besides, the existence of isotropic impurity scatterers is assumed. This simple model simulates the lattice of half-disk which have been studied numerically recently. The model allows the exact solution in the framework of the kinetic equation. The static current response in the second order of electric field is obtained. The photogalvanic tensor contains both responses to linear and circular polarization of electromagnetic field. The model possesses non-analyticity with regards to the rate of impurity scattering.