Viscous terahertz photoconductivity of hydrodynamic electrons in graphene

Abstract

Light incident upon materials can induce changes in their electrical conductivity, a phenomenon referred to as photoresistance. In semiconductors, the photoresistance is negative, as light-induced promotion of electrons across the bandgap enhances the number of charge carriers participating in transport. In superconductors and normal metals, the photoresistance is positive because of the destruction of the superconducting state and enhanced momentum-relaxing scattering, respectively. Here we report a qualitative deviation from the standard behaviour in doped metallic graphene. We show that Dirac electrons exposed to continuous-wave terahertz (THz) radiation can be thermally decoupled from the lattice, which activates hydrodynamic electron transport. In this regime, the resistance of graphene constrictions experiences a decrease caused by the THz-driven superballistic flow of correlated electrons. We analyse the dependencies of the negative photoresistance on the carrier density, and the radiation power, and show that our superballistic devices operate as sensitive phonon-cooled bolometers and can thus offer, in principle, a picosecond-scale response time. Beyond their fundamental implications, our findings underscore the practicality of electron hydrodynamics in designing ultra-fast THz sensors and electron thermometers.