2025/10/18 by I. M. Moiseenko, Moiseenko, I. M., Dmitry Svintsov +3
Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Other Condensed Matter (cond-mat.other) #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Strong Light-Matter Interactions #Topological Materials and Phenomena
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2510.16619
openalex publication_date 2025/10/18 · openalex created_date 2025/10/22 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Generation of photocurrent via photon drag effect enables very fast light detection with response time limited by momentum relaxation. At the same time, photon drag in bulk uniform samples is small by the virtue of small photon momentum. We show that the edge of metal gate placed above a two-dimensional electron system (2DES) provides highly non-uniform electromagnetic field that enhances the drag effect. We study the drag photovoltage using an exact solution of diffraction problem for 2DES with semi-infinite metal gate. We show that the only non-trivial dimensionless parameters governing the drag responsivity are the 2DES conductivity scaled by the free-space impedance η and gate-2DES separation scaled by the incident wavelength d/λ0. For radiation with electric field polarized orthogonal to the gate edge, the responsivity is maximized for inductive 2d conductivity with Imη ~ 1 and Reη << 1, and becomes very small for the capacitive 2d conductivity. The electromagnetic ponderomotive force pushes the charge carriers under the gate at arbitrary 2d conductivity, and the force direction is opposite to that at metal-2DES lateral contact. These patterns are explained by the dominant role of gated 2d plasmons in the formation of PDE photovoltage.