Incident Angle Dependence of the Waveform of the Polarization-Sensitive Photoresponse in CuSe/Se Thin Film

Abstract

The results of studying the waveforms of longitudinal and transverse photocurrent pulses generated in thin, semitransparent CuSe/Se films as a function of the angle of incidence (α) of a femtosecond laser beam at linear and circular polarizations are presented. It has been established that the durations of unipolar longitudinal photocurrent pulses at linear and circular polarizations of laser pumping do not depend on the angle α. It is shown that the evolution of the temporal profile of the helicity-sensitive transverse photocurrent with a change in α strongly depends on polarization. At linear polarization, the shape of the unipolar pulses remains virtually constant; however, at circular polarization, the generation of unipolar and bipolar pulses is possible, with the waveforms strongly depending on the angle α. The influence of the incidence angle on the waveforms of transverse photocurrent pulses is explained by the transformation of linear and circular polarization into an elliptical upon the refraction of light at the air/semitransparent film interface and by the interplay of photocurrents arising due to linear and circular surface photogalvanic effects in the film. The presented findings can be utilized to develop polarization and incidence angle-sensitive photovoltaic devices.

Keywords

• circular photocurrent
• polarization
• helicity
• bipolar photovoltage
• waveforms
• femtosecond excitation