Two-fluid hydrodynamic model for semiconductors

Abstract

The hydrodynamic Drude model (HDM) has been successful in describing the optical properties of metallic nanostructures, but for semiconductors where several different kinds of charge carriers are present, an extended theory is required. We present a two-fluid hydrodynamic model for semiconductors containing electrons and holes (from thermal or external excitation) or light and heavy holes (in $p$-doped materials). The two-fluid model predicts the existence of two longitudinal modes, an acoustic and an optical, whereas only an optical mode is present in the HDM. By extending nonlocal Mie theory to two plasmas, we are able to simulate the optical properties of two-fluid nanospheres and predict that the acoustic mode gives rise to peaks in the extinction spectra that are absent in the HDM.