Theoretical investigation of electron dynamics driven by laser pulses in graphene nanoribbons

Abstract

Control of electron dynamics in graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) is critically important for the future applications of graphene-based nanoelectronic devices. Based on real-time simulations, we investigate the manipulation of electronic transport by femtosecond laser pulses in armchair GNRs. The simulation results show that the multiphoton absorption process can drive the photon-excited electron flow along a GNR. The corresponding transferred charges are determined by the order of multiphoton absorption and depend on the central frequency and energy distribution of few-cycle laser pulses. Furthermore, the transferred charge can be controlled by the carrier-envelope phase of pulses; this dependence vanishes as the duration time of laser pulses increases. These results also provide insights into the manipulation of electron dynamics using lasers and the design of optoelectronic devices based on graphene materials.