Nonperturbative model of harmonic generation in undoped graphene in the terahertz regime

We present a formalism to calculate the nonlinear terahertz response of monolayer graphene using a two-band tight-binding model of graphene. We develop the dynamic equations for the electron density matrix in the length gauge to calculate the interband and intraband carrier dynamics at terahertz fre...

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Main Authors: Ibraheem Al-Naib, J E Sipe, Marc M Dignam
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2015-01-01
Series:New Journal of Physics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/17/11/113018
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author Ibraheem Al-Naib
J E Sipe
Marc M Dignam
author_facet Ibraheem Al-Naib
J E Sipe
Marc M Dignam
author_sort Ibraheem Al-Naib
collection DOAJ
description We present a formalism to calculate the nonlinear terahertz response of monolayer graphene using a two-band tight-binding model of graphene. We develop the dynamic equations for the electron density matrix in the length gauge to calculate the interband and intraband carrier dynamics at terahertz frequencies. Using the calculated nonlinear interband and intraband current densities, we obtain the nonlinear transmitted and reflected terahertz fields. We find that when the conditions are such that the interband and intraband current densities are comparable, strong generation of odd harmonics is observed. We examine the response of undoped graphene as a function of a wide variety of system parameters, including operating temperature, Fermi velocity, pulse duration, and terahertz central frequency. We find that the response is generally most sensitive to the operating temperature and the terahertz central frequency. In particular, changing the ambient temperature from 10 to 100 K reduces the third harmonic field by a factor of 20, while increasing the terahertz central frequency from 0.5 to 5 THz results in an increase in the ratio of the generated third harmonic field to the fundamental of the reflected field from 19% to 49%. The very strong dependence on the temperature and central frequency is found to be due to the strong dependence of the nonlinear generation on the strength of the interplay between the intraband and interband dynamics. Our work demonstrates that, under the right conditions of low temperature and moderate THz field central frequency, third harmonic generation should be experimentally observable in undoped monolayer graphene at moderate THz field amplitudes of only 1 kV cm ^−1 .
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spelling doaj.art-553782160d7c4df2a48528623f6d2b1f2023-08-08T14:23:48ZengIOP PublishingNew Journal of Physics1367-26302015-01-01171111301810.1088/1367-2630/17/11/113018Nonperturbative model of harmonic generation in undoped graphene in the terahertz regimeIbraheem Al-Naib0J E Sipe1Marc M Dignam2Department of Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy, Queen’s University , Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, CanadaDepartment of Physics and Institute for Optical Sciences, University of Toronto , Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A7, CanadaDepartment of Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy, Queen’s University , Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, CanadaWe present a formalism to calculate the nonlinear terahertz response of monolayer graphene using a two-band tight-binding model of graphene. We develop the dynamic equations for the electron density matrix in the length gauge to calculate the interband and intraband carrier dynamics at terahertz frequencies. Using the calculated nonlinear interband and intraband current densities, we obtain the nonlinear transmitted and reflected terahertz fields. We find that when the conditions are such that the interband and intraband current densities are comparable, strong generation of odd harmonics is observed. We examine the response of undoped graphene as a function of a wide variety of system parameters, including operating temperature, Fermi velocity, pulse duration, and terahertz central frequency. We find that the response is generally most sensitive to the operating temperature and the terahertz central frequency. In particular, changing the ambient temperature from 10 to 100 K reduces the third harmonic field by a factor of 20, while increasing the terahertz central frequency from 0.5 to 5 THz results in an increase in the ratio of the generated third harmonic field to the fundamental of the reflected field from 19% to 49%. The very strong dependence on the temperature and central frequency is found to be due to the strong dependence of the nonlinear generation on the strength of the interplay between the intraband and interband dynamics. Our work demonstrates that, under the right conditions of low temperature and moderate THz field central frequency, third harmonic generation should be experimentally observable in undoped monolayer graphene at moderate THz field amplitudes of only 1 kV cm ^−1 .https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/17/11/113018grapheneterahertzhigh-harmonic generation
spellingShingle Ibraheem Al-Naib
J E Sipe
Marc M Dignam
Nonperturbative model of harmonic generation in undoped graphene in the terahertz regime
New Journal of Physics
graphene
terahertz
high-harmonic generation
title Nonperturbative model of harmonic generation in undoped graphene in the terahertz regime
title_full Nonperturbative model of harmonic generation in undoped graphene in the terahertz regime
title_fullStr Nonperturbative model of harmonic generation in undoped graphene in the terahertz regime
title_full_unstemmed Nonperturbative model of harmonic generation in undoped graphene in the terahertz regime
title_short Nonperturbative model of harmonic generation in undoped graphene in the terahertz regime
title_sort nonperturbative model of harmonic generation in undoped graphene in the terahertz regime
topic graphene
terahertz
high-harmonic generation
url https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/17/11/113018
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AT jesipe nonperturbativemodelofharmonicgenerationinundopedgrapheneintheterahertzregime
AT marcmdignam nonperturbativemodelofharmonicgenerationinundopedgrapheneintheterahertzregime