Speciment of a test nanocircuit based on a bowtie antenna

B08 – Electron transport in nanostructures controlled by phase-locked single-cycle light pulses

Funding period: 01/2016 – 12/2019

Principal investigators:  Alfred Leitenstorfer, Daniele Brida (since 07/2018 Université du Luxembourg)

Scientific staff: Matthias Falk, Pascal Gumbsheimer, Vanessa Knittel, Markus Ludwig, Tobias Rybka, Patrick Storz

The project aims at coherent control of charge currents in nanojunctions triggered by phase-locked single cycles of light. In case of a cosine-like phase, the incident optical field combined with nonlinear current-voltage characteristics causes a symmetry break, resulting in a net current of electrons. Lateral constriction by the feedgaps of plasmonic circuits or in semiconductor resonant tunneling structures allows working in the limit of single or few electrons transferred per pulse. The nanometer and femtosecond spatiotemporal confinement enables transport studies in a new range of current densities where e.g. Coulomb repulsion may be effective even at room temperature.

For further information please also refer to the group website: Brida Group and  LS Leitenstorfer.

List of publications

2020

  • M. Ludwig, G. Aguirregabiria, F. Ritzkowsky, T. Rybka, D. C. Marinica, J. Aizpurua, A. G. Borisov, A. Leitenstorfer, and D. Brida
    Sub-femtosecond electron transport in a nanoscale gap
    Nature Physics 16, 314 (2020) - DOI: 10.1038/s41567-019-0745-8

2019

  • G. Aguirregabiria, D.-C. Marinica, M. Ludwig, D. Brida, A. Leitenstorfer, J. Aizpurua, and A. G. Borisov 
    Dynamics of electron-emission currents in plasmonic gaps induced by strong fields
    Faraday Discussions 214, 147-157 (2019) - DOI: 10.1039/c8fd00158h

2017

  • V. Knittel, M. P. Fischer, M. Vennekel, T. Rybka, A. Leitenstorfer, and D. Brida
    Dispersion of the nonlinear susceptibility in gold nanoantennas
    Phys. Rev. B 96, 125428 (2017) - DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.96.125428

2016

  • T. Rybka, M. Ludwig, M. F. Schmalz, V. Knittel, D. Brida, and A. Leitenstorfer
    Sub-cycle optical phase control of nanotunnelling in the single-electron regime
    Nature Photonics 10, 667 (2016) - DOI: 10.1038/nphoton.2016.174

2015

  • M. Trushin, A. Grupp, G. Soavi, A. Budweg, D. De Fazio, U. Sassi, A. Lombardo, A. C. Ferrari, W. Belzig, A. Leitenstorfer, and D. Brida
    Ultrafast pseudospin dynamics in graphene
    Phys. Rev. B 92, 165429 (2015) - DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.92.165429