Geometrical Tailoring of Shockley–Ramo Bipolar Photocurrent in Self‐Powered GaAs Nanodevices

Abstract Bipolar photoresponse—where photocurrent polarity reverses with excitation wavelength, gate voltage, or other conditions—is essential for optical logic, neuromorphic computing, and imaging. Unlike unipolar responses, bipolar behavior enables direct binary encoding and enhanced photodetection contrast. However, in conventional photoconductive or photovoltaic systems, the simultaneous and opposite‐directional transport of electrons and holes often suppresses polarity switching. Recent self‐powered Shockley–Ramo (SR) photoresponse in gapless materials also show only unipolar signals due to strong, irreversible electron‐hole asymmetry. Here, for the first‐time, bipolar SR photoresponse is demonstrated in GaAs nanoconstriction devices by exploiting reversible electron‐hole asymmetry. The longer carrier lifetimes in GaAs enable sub‐diffusion‐length control of carrier dynamics through geometry. By tuning photocarrier dynamics near the nanoconstriction for both majority electrons and minority holes, the SR response is modulated to exhibit dual polarities. At low excitation, photoelectrons dominate. As excitation increases, intervalley scattering populates higher‐energy L ‐valleys (µ e,L ≪ µ e,Γ ), while hot‐phonon bottleneck suppresses return to Γ, reducing the effective electron contribution and leading to polarity reversal driven by the growing dominance of photoexcited holes (µ h > µ e,L ). These results, supported by SR theory, show that nanoscale geometric engineering, together with the reversible electron‐hole asymmetry, enables self‐powered bipolar photocurrent responses, offering new routes toward advanced optoelectronic devices.

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Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Optical Materials
Published
2025-10-23
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/adom.202501597
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Semiconductor Quantum Structures and Devices
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.25
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article

Geometrical Tailoring of Shockley–Ramo Bipolar Photocurrent in Self‐Powered GaAs Nanodevices

Xiaoguo Fang, Huanyi Xue, Zhao Ding, Ludi Qin et al.
1 citations
Advanced Optical Materials
Semiconductor Quantum Structures and Devices
1.25
article

Geometrical Tailoring of Shockley–Ramo Bipolar Photocurrent in Self‐Powered GaAs Nanodevices

Xiaoguo Fang, Huanyi Xue, Zhao Ding, Ludi Qin, Haiyue Pei, Min Qiu, Feilin Chen, Xuhui Mao, Zhong Chen, Zhenghua An, Pingping Chen
article en
1 citations

Abstract

Abstract Bipolar photoresponse—where photocurrent polarity reverses with excitation wavelength, gate voltage, or other conditions—is essential for optical logic, neuromorphic computing, and imaging. Unlike unipolar responses, bipolar behavior enables direct binary encoding and enhanced photodetection contrast. However, in conventional photoconductive or photovoltaic systems, the simultaneous and opposite‐directional transport of electrons and holes often suppresses polarity switching. Recent self‐powered Shockley–Ramo (SR) photoresponse in gapless materials also show only unipolar signals due to strong, irreversible electron‐hole asymmetry. Here, for the first‐time, bipolar SR photoresponse is demonstrated in GaAs nanoconstriction devices by exploiting reversible electron‐hole asymmetry. The longer carrier lifetimes in GaAs enable sub‐diffusion‐length control of carrier dynamics through geometry. By tuning photocarrier dynamics near the nanoconstriction for both majority electrons and minority holes, the SR response is modulated to exhibit dual polarities. At low excitation, photoelectrons dominate. As excitation increases, intervalley scattering populates higher‐energy L ‐valleys (µ e,L ≪ µ e,Γ ), while hot‐phonon bottleneck suppresses return to Γ, reducing the effective electron contribution and leading to polarity reversal driven by the growing dominance of photoexcited holes (µ h > µ e,L ). These results, supported by SR theory, show that nanoscale geometric engineering, together with the reversible electron‐hole asymmetry, enables self‐powered bipolar photocurrent responses, offering new routes toward advanced optoelectronic devices.

Advanced Optical MaterialsVol. 13(33)
Fudan University (CN), Westlake University (CN), Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics (CN), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Zhejiang University (CN)
Openalex Percentile: Top 16%
Semiconductor Quantum Structures and Devices
1.25
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