Open AccessPolarization envelope helicity dependent photovoltage in GaAs/Al03Ga07As modulation-doped quantum well
Author(s) -
Hironori Ito,
Tetsuo Nakano,
Shintaro Nomura,
Kazuhiko Misawa
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.27.028091
Subject(s) - polarization (electrochemistry) , physics , optics , photocurrent , terahertz radiation , electric field , optoelectronics , materials science , chemistry , quantum mechanics
In this study, we demonstrate the switching of the direction of the photocurrent in an n-type GaAs/Al 0.3 Ga 0.7 As modulation-doped quantum well using a polarization pulse-shaping apparatus containing a 4f setup. The right- and left-polarization-twisting pulses with a polarization rotation frequency in the THz-regime are incident on a modulation-doped quantum well. The results show that the sign of the photovoltage is dependent on the direction of rotation of the polarization-twisting pulses, which can be explained by the circular photogalvanic effect combined with the production of a classical edge photocurrent from the acceleration of free electrons in the vicinity of the sample edge by the incident optical electric field. The wide range over which the polarization-rotation frequency may be tuned makes this method a powerful tool to investigate the response of an extensive variety of materials in the THz-regime.