title: Ultrafast electronic response of graphene to a strong and localized electric field.
abstract: The way conduction electrons respond to ultrafast external perturbations in low dimensional materials is at the core of the design of future devices for (opto)electronics, photodetection and spintronics. Highly charged ions provide a tool for probing the electronic response of solids to extremely strong electric fields localized down to nanometre-sized areas. With ion transmission times in the order of femtoseconds, we can directly probe the local electronic dynamics of an ultrathin foil on this timescale. Here we report on the ability of freestanding single layer graphene to provide tens of electrons for charge neutralization of a slow highly charged ion within a few femtoseconds. With values higher than 1012A cm-2, the resulting local current density in graphene exceeds previously measured breakdown currents by three orders of magnitude. Surprisingly, the passing ion does not tear nanometre-sized holes into the single layer graphene. We use time-dependent density functional theory to gain insight into the multielectron dynamics.
authors.affiliation: TU Wien, Institute of Applied Physics, 1040 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gruber
authors.affiliation: TU Wien, Institute of Applied Physics, 1040 Vienna, Austria.|Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research, 01328 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-9451-5440
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Wilhelm
authors.affiliation: Donostia International Physics Centre (DIPC), 20018 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain.
authors.forename: Rémi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pétuya
authors.affiliation: TU Wien, Institute of Applied Physics, 1040 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Valerie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Smejkal
authors.affiliation: Universität Duisburg-Essen, Fakultät für Physik and Cenide, 47048 Duisburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kozubek
authors.affiliation: Universität Duisburg-Essen, Fakultät für Physik and Cenide, 47048 Duisburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Anke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hierzenberger
authors.affiliation: University of Vienna, Faculty of Physics, Boltzmanngasse 5, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Bernhard C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Bayer
authors.affiliation: Centro de Fisica de Materiales (CFM), Centro Mixto CSIC-UPV/EHU - MPC, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain.
authors.forename: Iñigo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Aldazabal
authors.affiliation: Donostia International Physics Centre (DIPC), 20018 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain.|IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, 48013 Bilbao, Spain.
authors.forename: Andrey K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Kazansky
authors.affiliation: TU Wien, Institute for Theoretical Physics, 1040 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Florian
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5641-9458
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Libisch
authors.affiliation: Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research, 01328 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Arkady V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Krasheninnikov
authors.affiliation: Universität Duisburg-Essen, Fakultät für Physik and Cenide, 47048 Duisburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Marika
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5785-1186
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schleberger
authors.affiliation: Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research, 01328 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-3698-3793
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Facsko
authors.affiliation: CNRS-Université Paris Sud, Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d'Orsay - UMR 8214, 91405 Orsay Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Andrei G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Borisov
authors.affiliation: Donostia International Physics Centre (DIPC), 20018 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain.|Centro de Fisica de Materiales (CFM), Centro Mixto CSIC-UPV/EHU - MPC, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain.|Departamento de Fisica de Materiales UPV/EHU, Facultad de Quimica, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain.
authors.forename: Andrés
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arnau
authors.affiliation: TU Wien, Institute of Applied Physics, 1040 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Friedrich
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9788-0934
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Aumayr