Giant intrinsic photoresponse in pristine graphene

Nat Nanotechnol. 2019 Feb;14(2):145-150. doi: 10.1038/s41565-018-0323-8. Epub 2018 Dec 17.

Abstract

When the Fermi level is aligned with the Dirac point of graphene, reduced charge screening greatly enhances electron-electron scattering1-5. In an optically excited system, the kinematics of electron-electron scattering in Dirac fermions is predicted to give rise to novel optoelectronic phenomena6-11. In this paper, we report on the observation of an intrinsic photocurrent in graphene, which occurs in a different parameter regime from all the previously observed photothermoelectric or photovoltaic photocurrents in graphene12-20: the photocurrent emerges exclusively at the charge neutrality point, requiring no finite doping. Unlike other photocurrent types that are enhanced near p-n or contact junctions, the photocurrent observed in our work arises near the edges/corners. By systematic data analyses, we show that the phenomenon stems from the unique electron-electron scattering kinematics in charge-neutral graphene. Our results not only highlight the intriguing electron dynamics in the optoelectronic response of Dirac fermions, but also offer a new scheme for photodetection and energy harvesting applications based on intrinsic, charge-neutral Dirac fermions.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't