Photon drag in a single-level metallic quantum well

Abstract

A theoretical study of the photon-drag effect in a one-level metallic quantum well is presented. It is demonstrated that the photon drag, associated with second-order nonlinearities in the two-dimensional electron-gas system, originates in a combined diamagnetic and paramagnetic response. The photon-drag current density along the quantum well and the prevailing dc electric field across the well are calculated in a manner which takes into account local-field effects in the induced dc field as well as in the fundamental field of light. The local-field phenomena at the excitation frequency are studied on the basis of a self-consistent integral equation formalism. Within the framework of the slave and self-field approximations the photon-drag current density and the dc field prevailing across the well are examined. Finally, numerical results for the integrated photon-drag current density in a 3-Å-wide niobium quantum well deposited on a crystalline quartz substrate are presented. Data are obtained in the ∼10-μm wavelength regime for both bulk and surface-wave excitation schemes.