Electron energy relaxation under terahertz excitation in (Cd_1−xZn_x)₃As₂ Dirac semimetals

• Alexandra V. Galeeva,
• Ivan V. Krylov,
• Konstantin A. Drozdov,
• Anatoly F. Knjazev,
• Alexey V. Kochura,
• Alexander P. Kuzmenko,
• Vasily S. Zakhvalinskii,
• Sergey N. Danilov,
• Ludmila I. Ryabova and
• Dmitry R. Khokhlov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 167–171, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.17

• conductive surface electron states with a spin texture in Dirac semimetals (Cd1−xZnx)3As2. We performed a study on a range of (Cd1−xZnx)3As2 mixed crystals undergoing a transition from the Dirac semimetal phase with an inverse electron energy spectrum to trivial a semiconductor with a direct spectrum in the

• crystal bulk by varying the composition x. We show that for the Dirac semimetal phase, the photo-electromagnetic effect amplitude is defined by the number of incident radiation quanta, whereas for the trivial semiconductor phase, it depends on the laser pulse power, irrespective of wavelength. We assume

• that such behavior is attributed to a strong damping of the interelectron interaction in the Dirac semimetal phase compared to the trivial semiconductor, which may be due to the formation of surface electron states with a spin texture in Dirac semimetals. Keywords: Dirac semimetal; photo