arXiv subjects

Iraj Abbasian Shojaei

Publications and source records attributed to Iraj Abbasian Shojaei.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2021

Band Splitting and Long-lived Carrier Recombination in Ferromagnetic CrSiTe3 Nanosheets

Magnetic layered ternary chalcogenides hold great promise for future spin-optoelectronic devices in the two dimensional limit. Understanding how the properties of the materials are impacted by magnetic ordering and the spin-orbit interactions is critically needed information for the development of applications. Ultrafast transient reflectance (TR) and photocurrent (PC) spectroscopies are combined with ab initio density functional theory (DFT) calculations to investigate the band structure and photoresponse of a layered magnetic semiconductor CrSiTe3 (CST) nanosheet in the paramagnetic (PM, 300K) and ferromagnetic (FM, 10 K) phases. We observe both a decrease of the direct bandgap and emergence of a 120 meV splitting of the optical transition when the FM phase is present. DFT band structure calculations suggest that the band modifications are driven by a FM ordering-induced band splitting between the Te p and the Cr d states at the valence and conduction band edges. We find that the majority of carriers photoexcited at the direct gap recombine within picoseconds through defect-mediated recombination, but that 2-3 % of the electrons scatter into indirect conduction band valleys resulting in very long-lived electrons and holes. Those long-lived carriers contribute to the broadband PC response of CST devices that also features indirect absorption. These results provide critical insights into the dynamics and energy landscape of photoexcited electrons and holes, and how they are impacted by spin-ordering effects in layered ferromagnets.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2021

A Raman Probe of Phonons and Electron-phonon Interactions in NbIrTe4

The semimetal NbIrTe4 has been proposed to be a Type-II Weyl semimetal with 8 pairs of opposite Chirality Weyl nodes which are very close to the Fermi energy. This topological electronic structure is made possible because of the broken inversion symmetry of NbIrTe4 which is an orthorhombic crystal with Td symmetry. Using micro-Raman scattering as a probe, we observe the frequencies and symmetries of 19 phonon modes (ranging from 40 to 260 cm-1) in this material and compare to Density Functional Theory calculations. Using angular and polarization resolved Raman scattering for green (514 nm) and red (633 nm) laser excitation, we show that it is possible to extract the excitation energy dependence of the Raman tensor elements associated with each measurable phonon mode. We show that these tensor elements vary substantially in a small energy range which reflects a strong variation of the electron-phonon coupling for these modes.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Ultrafast Photoinduced Band Splitting and Carrier Dynamics in Chiral Tellurium Nanosheets

Trigonal tellurium (Te) is a chiral semiconductor that lacks both mirror and inversion symmetries, resulting in complex band structures with Weyl crossings and unique spin textures. Detailed time-resolved polarized reflectance spectroscopy is used to investigate its band structure and carrier dynamics. The polarized transient spectra reveal optical transitions between the uppermost spin-split H4 and H5 and the degenerate H6 valence bands (VB) and the lowest degenerate H6 conduction band (CB) as well as a higher energy transition at the L-point. Surprisingly, the degeneracy of the H6 CB (a proposed Weyl node) is lifted and the spin-split VB gap is reduced upon photoexcitation before relaxing to equilibrium as the carriers decay. Using ab initio density functional theory (DFT) calculations we conclude that the dynamic band structure is caused by a photoinduced shear strain in the Te film that breaks the screw symmetry of the crystal. The band-edge anisotropy is also reflected in the hot carrier decay rate, which is a factor of two slower along c-axis than perpendicular to it. The majority of photoexcited carriers near the band-edge are seen to recombine within 30 ps while higher lying transitions observed near 1.2 eV appear to have substantially longer lifetimes, potentially due to contributions of intervalley processes in the recombination rate. These new findings shed light on the strong correlation between photoinduced carriers and electronic structure in anisotropic crystals, which opens a potential pathway for designing novel Te-based devices that take advantage of the topological structures as well as strong spin-related properties.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2019

Strong Hot Carrier Effects Observed in a Single Nanowire Heterostructure

We use Transient Rayleigh Scattering to study the thermalization of hot photoexcited carriers in single GaAsSb/InP nanowire heterostructures. By comparing the energy loss rate in single bare GaAsSb nanowires which do not show substantial hot carrier effects with the core-shell nanowires, we show that the presence of an InP shell substantially suppresses the LO phonon emission rate at low temperatures leading to strong hot carrier effects.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Revealing Optical Transitions and Carrier Recombination Dynamics within the Bulk Band Structure of Bi2Se3

Bismuth selenide (Bi2Se3) is a prototypical three-dimensional topological insulator whose Dirac surface states have been extensively studied theoretically and experimentally. Surprisingly little, however, is known about the energetics and dynamics of electrons and holes within the bulk band structure of the semiconductor. We use mid-infrared femtosecond transient reflectance measurements in a thick exfoliated nanoflake to study the ultrafast thermalization and recombination dynamics of photoexcited electrons and holes within the extended bulk band structure over a wide energy range (0.3-1.2 eV). Theoretical modeling of the reflectivity spectral lineshapes at 10 K demonstrates that the electrons and holes are photoexcited within a dense and cold electron gas with a Fermi level positioned well above the bottom of the lowest conduction band. Direct optical transitions from the first and the second spin-orbit split valence bands to the Fermi level above the lowest conduction band minimum are identified. The photoexcited carriers thermalize rapidly to the lattice temperature within a couple of picoseconds due to optical phonon emission and scattering with the cold electron gas. The minority carrier holes recombine with the dense electron gas within 150 ps at 10 K and 50 ps at 300 K. Such knowledge of interaction of electrons and holes within the bulk band structure provides a foundation for understanding of how such states interact dynamically with the topologically protected Dirac surface states.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗