Optical absorption and carrier multiplication at graphene edges in a magnetic field

Abstract

We study optical absorption at graphene edges in a transversal magnetic field. The magnetic field bends the trajectories of particle- and hole excitations into antipodal direction which generates a directed current. We find a rather strong amplification of the edge current by impact ionization processes. More concretely, the primary absorption and the subsequent carrier multiplication is analyzed for a graphene fold and a zigzag edge. We identify exact and approximate selection rules and discuss the dependence of the decay rates on the initial state.