Thin Ti adhesion layer breaks bottleneck to hot hole relaxation in Au films

Ultrafast dynamics of hot carriers: Theoretical approaches based on real-time propagation of carrier distributions

In recent years, computational approaches which couple density functional theory (DFT)-based description of the electron-phonon and phonon-phonon scattering rates with the Boltzmann transport equation have been shown to obtain the electron and thermal transport characteristics of many 3D and 2D semiconductors in excellent agreement with experimental measurements. At the same time, progress in the DFT-based description of the electron-phonon scattering has also allowed to describe the non-equilibrium relaxation dynamics of hot or photo-excited electrons in several materials, in very good agreement with time-resolved spectroscopy experiments. In the latter case, as the time-resolved spectroscopy techniques provide the possibility to monitor transient material characteristics evolving on the femtosecond and attosecond time scales, the time evolution of photo-excited, nonthermal carrier distributions has to be described. Similarly, reliable theoretical approaches are needed to describe the transient transport properties of devices involving high energy carriers. In this review, we aim to discuss recent progress in coupling the ab initio description of materials, especially that of the electron-phonon scattering, with the time-dependent approaches describing the time evolution of the out-of-equilibrium carrier distributions, in the context of time-resolved spectroscopy experiments as well as in the context of transport simulations. We point out the computational limitations common to all numerical approaches, which describe time propagation of strongly out-of-equilibrium carrier distributions in 3D materials, and discuss the methods used to overcome them.

Ultrafast Charge Carrier Dynamics in Vanadium Dioxide, VO2: Nonequilibrium Contributions to the Photoinduced Phase Transitions

Vanadium oxide (VO2) is an exotic phase-change material with diverse applications ranging from thermochromic smart windows to thermal sensors, neuromorphic computing, and tunable metasurfaces. Nonetheless, the mechanism responsible for its metal-insulator phase transition remains a subject of vigorous debate. Here, we investigate the ultrafast dynamics of the photoinduced phase transition in VO2 under low perturbation conditions. By experimentally examining carrier relaxation dynamics at energy levels near the VO2 band gap (0.6-0.92 eV), we note that numerous optical features do not correspond to the first-order phase transition. Previous studies indeed induced such a phase transition, but they relied on fluences at least an order of magnitude higher, leading to temperature increases well above the transition threshold (340 K). Instead, for excitation fluences that correspond to lattice temperatures only in slight excess of the phase transition (absolute temperatures < 500 K), we find that the marked changes in optical properties are dominated by a shift in the electronic density of states/Fermi level. We find that this effect is a lattice-driven process and does not occur until sufficient energy has been transferred from the excited electrons into the phonon subsystem.

Multiple k-Point Nonadiabatic Molecular Dynamics for Ultrafast Excitations in Periodic Systems: The Example of Photoexcited Silicon

With the rapid development of ultrafast experimental techniques for the research of carrier dynamics in solid-state systems, a microscopic understanding of the related phenomena, particularly a first-principle calculation, is highly desirable. Nonadiabatic molecular dynamics (NAMD) offers a real-time direct simulation of the carrier transfer or carrier thermalization. However, when applied to a periodic supercell, there is no cross-k-point transitions during the NAMD simulation. This often leads to a significant underestimation of the transition rate with the single-k-point band structure in a supercell. In this work, based on the surface hopping scheme used for NAMD, we propose a practical method to enable the cross-k transitions for a periodic system. We demonstrate our formalism by showing that the hot electron thermalization process by the multi-k-point NAMD in a small silicon supercell is equivalent to such simulation in a large supercell with a single Γ point. The simulated hot carrier thermalization process of the bulk silicon is compared with the recent ultrafast experiments, which shows excellent agreements. We have also demonstrated our method for the hot carrier coolings in the amorphous silicons and the GaAlAs_{2} solid solutions with the various cation distributions.

Ultrafast and Nanoscale Energy Transduction Mechanisms and Coupled Thermal Transport across Interfaces

The coupled interactions among the fundamental carriers of charge, heat, and electromagnetic fields at interfaces and boundaries give rise to energetic processes that enable a wide array of technologies. The energy transduction among these coupled carriers results in thermal dissipation at these surfaces, often quantified by the thermal boundary resistance, thus driving the functionalities of the modern nanotechnologies that are continuing to provide transformational benefits in computing, communication, health care, clean energy, power recycling, sensing, and manufacturing, to name a few. It is the purpose of this Review to summarize recent works that have been reported on ultrafast and nanoscale energy transduction and heat transfer mechanisms across interfaces when different thermal carriers couple near or across interfaces. We review coupled heat transfer mechanisms at interfaces of solids, liquids, gasses, and plasmas that drive the resulting interfacial heat transfer and temperature gradients due to energy and momentum coupling among various combinations of electrons, vibrons, photons, polaritons (plasmon polaritons and phonon polaritons), and molecules. These interfacial thermal transport processes with coupled energy carriers involve relatively recent research, and thus, several opportunities exist to further develop these nascent fields, which we comment on throughout the course of this Review.

Control of Charge Carrier Relaxation at the Au/WSe2 Interface by Ti and TiO2 Adhesion Layers: Ab Initio Quantum Dynamics

Phonon-mediated charge relaxation plays a vital role in controlling thermal transport across an interface for efficient functioning of two-dimensional (2D) nanostructured devices. Using a combination of nonadiabatic molecular dynamics with real-time time-dependent density functional theory, we demonstrate a strong influence of adhesion layers at the Au/WSe₂ interface on nonequilibrium charge relaxation, rationalizing recent ultrafast time-resolved experiments. Ti oxide layers (TiO_x) create a barrier to the interaction between Au and WSe₂ and extend hot carrier lifetimes, creating benefits for photovoltaic and photocatalytic applications. In contrast, a metallic Ti layer accelerates the energy flow, as needed for efficient heat dissipation in electronic devices. The interaction of metallic Ti with WSe₂ causes W-Se bond scissoring and pins the Fermi level. The Ti adhesion layer enhances the electron-phonon coupling due to an increased density of states and the light mass of the Ti atom. The conclusions are robust to presence of typical point defects. The atomic-scale ab initio analysis of carrier relaxation at the interfaces advances our knowledge in fabricating nanodevices with optimized electronic and thermal properties.

Suppressed electronic contribution in thermal conductivity of Ge2Sb2Se4Te

Integrated nanophotonics is an emerging research direction that has attracted great interests for technologies ranging from classical to quantum computing. One of the key-components in the development of nanophotonic circuits is the phase-change unit that undergoes a solid-state phase transformation upon thermal excitation. The quaternary alloy, Ge2Sb2Se4Te, is one of the most promising material candidates for application in photonic circuits due to its broadband transparency and large optical contrast in the infrared spectrum. Here, we investigate the thermal properties of Ge2Sb2Se4Te and show that upon substituting tellurium with selenium, the thermal transport transitions from an electron dominated to a phonon dominated regime. By implementing an ultrafast mid-infrared pump-probe spectroscopy technique that allows for direct monitoring of electronic and vibrational energy carrier lifetimes in these materials, we find that this reduction in thermal conductivity is a result of a drastic change in electronic lifetimes of Ge2Sb2Se4Te, leading to a transition from an electron-dominated to a phonon-dominated thermal transport mechanism upon selenium substitution. In addition to thermal conductivity measurements, we provide an extensive study on the thermophysical properties of Ge2Sb2Se4Te thin films such as thermal boundary conductance, specific heat, and sound speed from room temperature to 400 °C across varying thicknesses.

Long-lived modulation of plasmonic absorption by ballistic thermal injection

Light-matter interactions that induce charge and energy transfer across interfaces form the foundation for photocatalysis^1,2, energy harvesting³ and photodetection⁴, among other technologies. One of the most common mechanisms associated with these processes relies on carrier injection. However, the exact role of the energy transport associated with this hot-electron injection remains unclear. Plasmon-assisted photocatalytic efficiencies can improve when intermediate insulation layers are used to inhibit the charge transfer^5,6 or when off-resonance excitations are employed⁷, which suggests that additional energy transport and thermal effects could play an explicit role even if the charge transfer is inhibited⁸. This provides an additional interfacial mechanism for the catalytic and plasmonic enhancement at interfaces that moves beyond the traditionally assumed physical charge injection^9-12. In this work, we report on a series of ultrafast plasmonic measurements that provide a direct measure of electronic distributions, both spatially and temporally, after the optical excitation of a metal/semiconductor heterostructure. We explicitly demonstrate that in cases of strong non-equilibrium, a novel energy transduction mechanism arises at the metal/semiconductor interface. We find that hot electrons in the metal contact transfer their energy to pre-existing free electrons in the semiconductor, without an equivalent spatiotemporal transfer of charge. Further, we demonstrate that this ballistic thermal injection mechanism can be utilized as a unique means to modulate plasmonic interactions. These experimental results are well-supported by both rigorous multilayer optical modelling and first-principle ab initio calculations.

Control of Charge Carrier Dynamics in Plasmonic Au Films by TiOx Substrate Stoichiometry

Plasmonic excitations in noble metals have many fascinating properties and give rise to a broad range of applications. We demonstrate, using nonadiabatic molecular dynamics combined with time-domain density functional theory, that the chemical composition and stoichiometry of substrates can have a strong influence on charge dynamics. By changing oxygen content in TiO₂, including stoichiometric, oxygen rich, and oxygen poor phases, and Ti metal, one can alter lifetimes of charge carriers in Au by a factor of 5 and control the ratio of electron-to-hole relaxation rates by a factor of 10. Remarkably, a thin TiO_x substrate greatly alters charge carrier properties in much thicker Au films. Such large variations stem from the fact that the Ti and O atoms are much lighter than Au, and their vibrations are much faster at dissipating the energy. The control over a particular charge carrier and an energy range depends on the Au and TiO_x level alignment, and the interfacial interaction strength. These factors are easily influenced by the TiO_x stoichiometry. In particular, oxygen rich and poor TiO₂ can be used to control holes and electrons, respectively, while metallic Ti affects both charge carriers. The detailed atomistic analysis of the interfacial and electron-vibrational interactions generates the fundamental understanding of the properties of plasmonic materials needed to design photovoltaic, photocatalytic, optoelectronic, sensing, nanomedical, and other devices.

Ultrafast Hot Carrier Injection in Au/GaN: The Role of Band Bending and the Interface Band Structure

Plasmon photochemistry can potentially play a significant role in photocatalysis. To realize this potential, it is critical to enhance the plasmon excited hot carrier transfer and collection. However, the lack of atomistic understanding of the carrier transfer across the interface, especially when the carrier is still "hot", makes it challenging to design a more efficient system. In this work, we apply the nonadiabatic molecular dynamics simulation to study hot carrier dynamics in the system of a Au nanocluster on top of a GaN surface. By setting up the initial excited hole in Au, the carrier transfer from Au to GaN is found to be on a subpicosecond time scale. The hot hole first cools to the band edge of Au d-states while it transfers to GaN. After the hole has cooled down to the band edge of GaN, we find that some of the charges can return back to Au. By applying different external potentials to mimic the Schottky barrier band bending, the returning charge can be reduced, demonstrating the importance of the internal electric field. Finally, with the understanding of the carrier transfer's pathway, we suggest that a ZnO layer between GaN and Au can effectively block the "cold" carrier from returning back to Au but still allow the hot carrier to transfer from Au to GaN.