A nanoscale vacuum-tube diode triggered by few-cycle laser pulses

Higuchi T, Maisenbacher L, Liehl A, Dombi P, Hommelhoff P (2015)


Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2015

Journal

Publisher: American Institute of Physics (AIP)

Book Volume: 106

Pages Range: 051109

URI: https://arxiv.org/abs/1905.10712

DOI: 10.1063/1.4907607

Abstract

We propose and demonstrate a nanoscale vacuum-tube diode triggered by few-cycle near-infrared laser pulses. It represents an ultrafast electronic device based on light fields, exploiting near-field optical enhancement at surfaces of two metal nanotips. The sharper of the two tips displays a stronger field-enhancement, resulting in larger photoemission yields at its surface. One laser pulse with a peak intensity of 4.7 × 1011W/cm2 triggers photoemission of ∼16 electrons from the sharper cathode tip, while emission from the blunter anode tip is suppressed by 19 dB to ∼0.2 electrons per pulse. Thus, the laser-triggered current between two tips exhibit a rectifying behavior, in analogy to classical vacuum-tube diodes. According to the kinetic energy of the emitted electrons and the distance between the tips, the total operation time of this laser-triggered nanoscale diode is estimated to be below 1 ps.

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How to cite

APA:

Higuchi, T., Maisenbacher, L., Liehl, A., Dombi, P., & Hommelhoff, P. (2015). A nanoscale vacuum-tube diode triggered by few-cycle laser pulses. Applied Physics Letters, 106, 051109. https://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4907607

MLA:

Higuchi, Takuya, et al. "A nanoscale vacuum-tube diode triggered by few-cycle laser pulses." Applied Physics Letters 106 (2015): 051109.

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