Fluence and wavelength dependent ultrafast differential transmission dynamics in graphene

Abstract

We performed degenerate pump-probe transmission measurements of graphene supported on glass for a range of pump fluences that enable us to observe both positive and negative deferential transmission dynamics. Our results show that at an intermediate pump fluence, where a transition from negative to positive response occurs, the differential transmission dynamics is an order of magnitude faster than at higher and lower pump fluences. This effect can be explained by equal contributions of inter-and intraband transitions with opposite signs to the transient optical conductivity of graphene at an intermediate pump fluence. Moreover, the intermediate threshold pump fluence is shown to increase with decreasing probe energy, which is in agreement with the theoretical model. Furthermore, we show that the relaxation time of the electronic temperature increases monotonically over the range of fluences studied. In perspective, this work is of importance to graphene-based opto-electronic applications such as light modulators.