Ratchet effects induced by terahertz radiation in heterostructures with a lateral periodic potential.
We report on the observation of the Seebeck ratchet effect. The effect is measured in semiconductor heterostructures with a one-dimensional lateral potential excited by terahertz radiation. The photocurrent generation is based on the combined action of a spatially periodic in-plane potential and a spatially modulated light, which gives rise to a modulation of the local temperature. In addition to the polarization-independent current due to the Seebeck ratchet effect, we observe a photon helicity dependent response and propose a microscopic mechanism to interpret the experimental findings.
Terahertz Center, University of Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany.
P
P
Olbrich
E L
EL
Ivchenko
R
R
Ravash
T
T
Feil
S D
SD
Danilov
J
J
Allerdings
D
D
Weiss
D
D
Schuh
W
W
Wegscheider
S D
SD
Ganichev