Photocurrent in a visible-light graphene photodiode

Abstract

We calculate the photocurrent in a clean graphene sample normally irradiated by a monochromatic electromagnetic field and subject to a step-like electrostatic potential. We consider the photon energies $\hbar\Omega$ that significantly exceed the height of the potential barrier, as is the case in the recent experiments with graphene-based photodetectors. The photocurrent comes from the resonant absorption of photons by electrons and decreases with increasing ratio $\hbar\Omega/U_0$. It is weakly affected by the background gate voltage and depends on the light polarization as $\propto\sin^2\gamma$, $\gamma$ being the angle between the potential and the polarization plane.