Universal Model of Optical-Field Electron Tunneling from Two-Dimensional Materials

Abstract

We develop analytical models of optical-field electron tunneling from the edge and surface of two-dimensional (2D) materials, including the effects of reduced dimensionality, non-parabolic energy dispersion, band anisotropy, quasi-time dependent tunneling and emission dynamics indueced by the laser field. We discover a universal scaling between the tunneling current density $J$ and the laser electric field $F$: In($J/|F{|}^2)\propto 1/|F|$ with ${\hat{I}}^2=3/2$ in the edge emission and ${\hat{I}}^2=1$ in the vertical surface emission, which both are distinctive from the traditional Fowler-Nordheim (FN) model of ${\hat{I}}^2=2$. The current density exhibits an unexpected high-field saturation effect due to the reduced dimensionality of 2D materials, which is completely different from the space-charge saturation commonly observed in traditional bulk materials. Our results reveal the dc bias as an efficient method in modulating the optical-field tunneling sub-optical-cycle emission characteristics. Importantly, our model is in excellent agreement with a recent experiment on graphene. Our findings offer a theoretical foundation for the understanding of optical-field tunneling emission from the 2D material system, which is useful for the development of 2D-material based optoelectronics and vacuum nanoelectronics.

8 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables