Keisuke Shinokita

Extraordinary carrier multiplication gated by a picosecond electric field pulse

The study of carrier multiplication has become an essential part of many-body physics and materials science as this multiplication directly affects nonlinear transport phenomena, and has a key role in designing efficient solar cells and electroluminescent emitters and highly sensitive photon detectors. Here we show that a 1-MVcm−1 electric field of a terahertz pulse, unlike a DC bias, can generate a substantial number of electron–hole pairs, forming excitons that emit near-infrared luminescence. The bright luminescence associated with carrier multiplication suggests that carriers coherently driven by a strong electric field can efficiently gain enough kinetic energy to induce a series of impact ionizations that can increase the number of carriers by about three orders of magnitude on the picosecond time scale.

Dynamical Franz–Keldysh effect in GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum wells induced by single-cycle terahertz pulses

We studied absorption spectra near the band gap of GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum wells subjected to strong single-cycle terahertz pulses. With an increasing terahertz electric field, the heavy-hole 1s exciton energy near the band gap redshifts, reaches a maximum, and turns to blueshift. The blueshift increases proportionally to the ponderomotive energy, i.e., the terahertz electric field squared, which differs from the response expected from the Frantz–Keldysh effect (FKE) in a dc electric field. This fact suggests that the observed ponderomotive energy dependence of the blueshift can be ascribed to the dynamical FKE.

Carrier Transport and Photoresponse in GeSe/MoS2 Heterojunction p–n Diodes

Simple stacking of thin van der Waals 2D materials with different physical properties enables one to create heterojunctions (HJs) with novel functionalities and new potential applications. Here, a 2D material p-n HJ of GeSe/MoS2 is fabricated and its vertical and horizontal carrier transport and photoresponse properties are studied. Substantial rectification with a very high contrast (>104 ) through the potential barrier in the vertical-direction tunneling of HJs is observed. The negative differential transconductance with high peak-to-valley ratio (>105 ) due to the series resistance change of GeSe, MoS2 , and HJs at different gate voltages is observed. Moreover, strong and broad-band photoresponse via the photoconductive effect are also demonstrated. The explored multifunctional properties of the GeSe/MoS2 HJs are expected to be important for understanding the carrier transport and photoresponse of 2D-material HJs for achieving their use in various new applications in the electronics and optoelectronics fields.

Long radiative lifetimes of excitons in monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenides MX 2 (M = Mo, W; X = S, Se)

We studied the effective exciton radiative lifetimes of monolayer two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenides MX 2 (M = Mo, W; X = S, Se). The photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield and PL decay time were measured for monolayer MoS2, MoSe2, WS2, and WSe2 at room temperature. Effective exciton radiative lifetimes of >10 ns were determined from the PL quantum yield of 10−2 to 10−3 and the PL decay time of several hundred picoseconds. The results are explained on the basis of the long radiative lifetime of bright excitons at a low temperature limit, a finite exciton coherence area of several square nanometers, and the population of dark exciton states.

Photoluminescence quantum yields for atomically thin-layered ReS2: Identification of indirect-bandgap semiconductors

Rhenium dichalcogenides have attracted considerable attention as new members of group VII layered semiconductor transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) with respect to fundamental physics and potential applications. In this study, room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectra, as well as PL quantum yields (QYs) of thin-layer rhenium disulfide (ReS2), were evaluated. Low PL QYs of ∼10–4 were determined from a monolayer thickness to seven layers (1–7L) of ReS2 regardless of the layer number. These low PL QYs strongly suggest that the ReS2 is an indirect-bandgap semiconductor from a monolayer limit to the bulk, which is in contrast to those observed for group VI TMDs (MX2: M = Mo and W; X = S and Se). Our experimental findings will provide valuable information for the electronic and optical device applications in atomically thin-layered ReS2.Rhenium dichalcogenides have attracted considerable attention as new members of group VII layered semiconductor transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) with respect to fundamental physics and potential applications. In this study, room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectra, as well as PL quantum yields (QYs) of thin-layer rhenium disulfide (ReS2), were evaluated. Low PL QYs of ∼10–4 were determined from a monolayer thickness to seven layers (1–7L) of ReS2 regardless of the layer number. These low PL QYs strongly suggest that the ReS2 is an indirect-bandgap semiconductor from a monolayer limit to the bulk, which is in contrast to those observed for group VI TMDs (MX2: M = Mo and W; X = S and Se). Our experimental findings will provide valuable information for the electronic and optical device applications in atomically thin-layered ReS2.

Coherent Acoustic Phonon Amplification in a Strongly Coupled Semiconductor Superlattice under Intraminiband Transport

We report a new technique to amplify coherent acoustic phonons in a semiconductor superlattice under intraminiband transport. The interaction between drift electrons and copropagating acoustic phonons leads to an amplification of the sound amplitude by 200 %.

Photoluminescence flash induced by intense single-cycle terahertz pulses in undoped GaAs quantum wells

Intense terahetz pulses induce a photoluminescence flashes from undoped GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells under continuous wave laser excitation. This result indicates that the number of excitons increases 10000-fold from that of the steady state.

High-power THz pulse generation and nonlinear THz spectroscopy

Intense terahetz (THz) pulses induce a photoluminescence (PL) flashes from undoped GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells under continuous wave laser excitation. The number of excitons increases 10000-fold from that of the steady state. The THz electric field dependence and the relaxation dynamics of the PL flash intensity suggest that the strong electric field of the THz pulse ionizes trap states during the one-picosecond period of the THz pulse and release carriers existing in a giant reservoir containing many trap states in the AlGaAs layers.

Highly efficient carrier multiplication and bright exciton luminescence under intense terahertz pulse

The nonlinear interactions of GaAs quantum wells with intense single cycle terahertz (THz) pulses with amplitudes exceeding 1 MV/cm have been studied. We demonstrated for the first time that the number of carriers is enhanced 103 times more with an increase of the electric field amplitude of the THz pulse from 0.5 to 1 MV/cm, eventually which leading a bright near-infrared luminescence. This highly efficient carrier multiplication process with a threshold-like behavior implies that the carriers driven under intense THz pulse can efficiently gain enough high kinetic energy to induce cascading impact ionizations.

Dynamical Franz-Keldysh effect in GaAs induced by monocycle terahertz pulse

We studied electron-hole behaviors interacted with intense THz pulse in GaAs MQW. THz pulse causes strong modulations of exciton in absorption spectrum. For high THz electric fields, hh exciton energy shows blueshift proportional to THz electric field squared, due to dynamical Franz-Keldysh effect.