A two dimensional electron system without spatial inversion symmetry develops a sample specific dc voltage when exposed to a microwave radiation at low temperature. We investigate this photovoltaic (PV) effect, in the case where spatial symmetry is broken by an evanescent high-frequency potential. We measure the induced PV voltage in a ${\rm GaAs/Ga_{1-x}Al_{x}As}$ Hall bar at magnetic fields in the Tesla range. We find that in this regime the induced PV voltage is anti-symmetric with magnetic field, and exhibits regular Shubnikov-de Haas like oscillations. Our experimental results can be understood from a simple model, which describes the effect of stationary orbital currents caused by microwave driving.
We theoretically study the current-voltage relation, $I-V$ characteristic, of the photovoltaics due to the shift current, i.e., the photocurrent generated ${\it without}$ the external dc electric field in noncentrosymmetric crystals through the Berry connection of the Bloch wavefunctions. We find that the $I-V$ characteristic and shot noise are controlled by the difference of group velocities between conduction and valence bands, i.e., $v_{11}-v_{22}$, and the relaxation time $τ$. Since the shift current itself is independent of these quantities, there are wide possibilities to design it to ma…
We investigate quantum photovoltaic effect in double quantum dots by applying nonequilibrium quantum master equation. The drastic suppression of the photovoltaic current is observed near the open circuit voltage, which leads to the large filling factor. We find that there always exists an optimal inter-dot tunneling that significantly enhances the photovoltaic current. The maximal output power will also be obtained around the optimal inter-dot tunneling. Moreover, the open circuit voltage approximately behaves as the product of the eigen-level gap and the Carnot efficiency. These results sugge…
An AC electric field applied to a junction comprising two spin-orbit coupled weak links connecting a quantum dot to two electronic terminals is proposed to induce a DC current and to generate a voltage drop over the junction if it is a part of an open circuit. This photovoltaic effect requires a junction in which mirror reflection-symmetry is broken. Its origin lies in the different fashion inelastic processes modify the reflection of electrons from the junction back into the two terminals, which leads to uncompensated DC transport. The effect can be detected by measuring the voltage drop that…
We perform high-resolution photocurrent (PC) spectroscopy to investigate resonantly the neutral exciton ground-state (X0) in a single InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dot (QD) embedded in the intrinsic region of an n-i-Schottky photodiode based on a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG), which was formed from a Si delta-doped GaAs layer. Using such a device, a single-QD PC spectrum of X0 is measured by sweeping the bias-dependent X0 transition energy through that of a fixed narrow-bandwidth laser via the quantum-confined Stark effect (QCSE). By repeating such a measurement for a series of laser …
Thermophotovoltaic devices are energy-conversion systems generating an electric current from the thermal photons radiated by a hot body. In far field, the efficiency of these systems is limited by the thermodynamic Schockley-Queisser limit corresponding to the case where the source is a black body. On the other hand, in near field, the heat flux which can be transferred to a photovoltaic cell can be several orders of magnitude larger because of the contribution of evanescent photons. This is particularly true when the source supports surface polaritons. Unfortunately, in the infrared where the…
We investigate photovoltaic effect of atomtronics induced by artificial gauge field in four optical potentials. Effective magnetic flux gives rise to polarization of atom occupation probability which creates current of atomtronics. The relation between atomic current and magnetic flux behaves like the current-phase property in Josephson junction. The photovoltaic cell is well defined by the atomic opened system which have effective voltage and two different poles that correspond to two internal states of atomtronics. The atom flow is controllable by changing the direction of incident light and…
We propose a mechanism for spin polarized photocurrent generation in quantum wires. The effect is due to the combined effect of Rashba spin-orbit interaction, external magnetic field and microwave radiation. The time-independent interactions in the wire give rise to a spectrum asymmetry in k-space. The microwave radiation induces transitions between spin-splitted subbands, and, due to the peculiar energy dispersion relation, charge and spin currents are generated at zero bias voltage. We demonstrate that the generation of pure spin currents is possible under an appropriate choice of external c…
Models of organic bulk heterojunction photovoltaics which include the effect of spatially varying composition of donor/acceptor materials are developed and analyzed. Analytic expressions for the current-voltage relation in simplified cases show that the effect of varying blend composition on charge transport is minimal. Numerical results for various blend compositions, including the experimentally relevant composition of a donor-rich region near the cathode (a "skin layer" of donor material), show that the primary effect of this variation on device performance derives from its effect on photoc…
The photovoltaic effect induced by terahertz radiation in a gated two-dimensional electron gas in magnetic field is considered theoretically. It is assumed that the incoming radiation creates an ac voltage between the source and gate and that the gate length is long compared to the damping length of plasma waves. In the presence of pronounced Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations, an important source of non-linearity is the oscillating dependence of the mobility on the ac gate voltage. This results in a photoresponse oscillating as a function of magnetic field, which is enhanced in the vicinity of th…
Realizing basic semiconductor devices such as p-n junctions are necessary for developing thin-film and optoelectronic technologies in emerging planar materials such as MoS2. In this work, electrostatic doping by buried gates is used to study the electronic and optoelectronic properties of p-n junctions in exfoliated MoS2 flakes. Creating a controllable doping gradient across the device leads to the observation of the photovoltaic effect in monolayer and bilayer MoS2 flakes. For thicker flakes, strong ambipolar conduction enables realization of fully reconfigurable p-n junction diodes with rect…
Successful incorporation of the spin degree of freedom in semiconductor technology requires the development of a new paradigm allowing for a scalable, non-destructive electrical detection of the spin-polarization of injected charge carriers as they propagate along the semiconducting channel. In this paper we report the observation of a spin-injection Hall effect (SIHE) which exploits the quantum-relativistic nature of spin-charge transport and which meets all these key requirements on the spin detection. The two-dimensional electron-hole gas photo-voltaic cell we designed to observe the SIHE a…
We propose a scheme for the generation of photocurrent in bent quantum wires. We calculate the current using a generalized Landauer-Buttiker approach that takes into account the electromagnetic radiation. For circularly polarized light, we find that the curvature in the bent wire induces an asymmetry in the scattering coefficients for left and right moving electrons. This asymmetry results in a current at zero bias voltage. The effect is due to the geometry of the wire which transforms the photon angular momentum into translational motion for the electrons.
Here, we report the observation of a hitherto unreported optoelectronic effect, namely a light-induced diode-like response in multi-layered MoSe$_2$ field-effect transistors whose sense of current rectification is controllable through a gate voltage. We argue, through numerical simulations, that this behavior results from the difference in the size of the Schottky barriers between drain and source metal contacts. Each barrier can be modeled as a Schottky diode but with opposite senses of current rectification between them, with the diode response resulting from the light induced promotion of p…
We introduce a concept of semi-shunts representing needle shaped metallic protrusions shorter than the distance between a device electrodes. Due to the lightening rod type of field enhancement, they induce strong electron emission. We consider the corresponding signature effects in photovoltaic applications; they are: low open circuit voltages and exponentially strong random device leakiness. Comparing the proposed theory with our data for CdTe based solar cells, we conclude that stress can stimulate semi-shunts' growth making them shunting failure precursors. In the meantime, controllable sem…
Atomically thin MoS2 has recently emerged as a very attractive material for nanoscale optoelectronic devices. While n-type transport in MoS2 devices has been demonstrated, hole conduction has been more challenging. Here we show work-function engineering to be an effective approach for controlling the polarity of MoS2 devices. Gated multi-layer MoS2 transistors with Au source/drain contacts exhibit n-type operation, while those with Pd contacts are shown to have p-type behavior. Devices with one Au and one Pd contact exhibit asymmetric ambipolar behavior and diode characteristics over a wide ra…
We investigate the transport properties of a ferromagnet-superconductor interface within the framework of a modified three-dimensional Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk formalism. In particular, we propose that charge inhomogeneity forms via two unique transport mechanisms, namely, evanescent Andreev reflection and evanescent quasiparticle transmission. Furthermore, we take into account the influence of charge inhomogeneity on the interfacial barrier potential and calculate the conductance as a function of bias voltage. Point-contact Andreev reflection (PCAR) spectra often show dip structures, large ze…
P-n junctions based on vertically stacked single or few layer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) have attracted substantial scientific interest. Due to the propensity of TMDCs to show exclusively one type of conductivity, n- or p-type, heterojunctions of different materials are typically fabricated to produce diode-like current rectification and photovoltaic response. Recently, artificial, stable and substitutional doping of MoS2 into n- and p-type has been demonstrated. MoS2 is an interesting material to use for optoelectronic applications due to the potential of low-cost production in …
The semiconducting p-n junction is a simple device structure with great relevance for electronic and optoelectronic applications. The successful integration of low-dimensional materials in electronic circuits has opened the way forward for producing gate-tunable p-n junctions. In that context, here we present an organic (Cu-phthalocyanine)-2D layered material (MoS2) hybrid p-n junction with both gate-tunable diode characteristics and photovoltaic effect. Our proof-of-principle devices show multifunctional properties with diode rectifying factors of up to 10^4, while under light exposure they e…
Tungsten diselenide (WSe2), a semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC), shows great potential as active material in optoelectronic devices due to its ambipolarity and direct bandgap in its single-layer form. Recently, different groups have exploited the ambipolarity of WSe2 to realize electrically tunable PN junctions, demonstrating its potential for digital electronics and solar cell applications. In this Letter, we focus on the different photocurrent generation mechanisms in a double-gated WSe2 device by measuring the photocurrent (and photovoltage) as the local gate voltages ar…
Graphene is a promising candidate for optoelectronic applications such as photodetectors, terahertz imagers, and plasmonic devices. The origin of photoresponse in graphene junctions has been studied extensively and is attributed to either thermoelectric or photovoltaic effects. In addition, hot carrier transport and carrier multiplication are thought to play an important role. Here we report the intrinsic photoresponse in biased but otherwise homogeneous graphene. In this classic photoconductivity experiment, the thermoelectric effects are insignificant. Instead, the photovoltaic and a photo-i…
