Abstract
Far infrared (FIR) high-power pulsed laser radiation incident normal to the surface of GaAs/metal heterostructures with a self-consistent tunnel Schottky barrier gives rise to a change in the tunnel conductance. We show that the observed photoresistive effects are caused by ponderomotive forces of the radiation field on the free electron plasma in the junctions. At low power levels the change of ...
Abstract
Far infrared (FIR) high-power pulsed laser radiation incident normal to the surface of GaAs/metal heterostructures with a self-consistent tunnel Schottky barrier gives rise to a change in the tunnel conductance. We show that the observed photoresistive effects are caused by ponderomotive forces of the radiation field on the free electron plasma in the junctions. At low power levels the change of the tunnel conductance rises linearly with increasing intensity, and proceeds into a strongly superlinear dependence at high intensities. It is shown that this superlinearity is a result of an enhancement of the local radiation field in the near-zone of diffraction by inhomogeneities at the metal-semiconductor interface and depends strongly on the surface roughness of the metal electrode. Furthermore the experimental results are compared to a nonlinear extension of the theory of electron redistribution due to the radiation pressure.
More literature (via CORE)