Attosecond electron transport in plasmonic nanostructures

Více o knize

This thesis demonstrates the control of electric current between nanoscaled electrodes on an attosecond time scale (10⁻¹⁸ seconds) using near-infrared light pulses as an alternating-current bias. By focusing ultrashort voltage biases, which span a single oscillation cycle, on a pair of nanoelectrodes, the shape of the electric field cycle influences the transport of single electrons between the electrodes. The lightwave-driven current occurs over a few hundred attoseconds, with its direction adjustable via the carrier-envelope phase (CEP) of the pulses. The work is organized into five chapters. The first chapter introduces the topic, followed by a background section. A key innovation is the development of a laser system based on advanced Erbium-fiber technology, generating 4-femtosecond-long light pulses with a duration of exactly one optical cycle, operating at an 80 MHz pulse repetition rate while passively stabilizing the CEP. The third chapter details this laser source, while the fourth focuses on the fabrication and electrical characterization of the nanoelectrodes, achieved through electron beam lithography with a resolution at the technology's limit, producing a reproducible gap size of 8 nanometers. The final chapter presents experimental results on optically driven attosecond electron transport.