Optical Rectification and Thermal Currents in Optical Tunneling Gap Antennas

Abstract: Electrically-contacted optical gap antennas are nanoscale interface devices enabling the transduction between photons and electrons. This new generation of devices captures visible to near infrared electromagnetic radiation and converts the incident energy in a direct-current (DC) electrical signal. The nanoscale rectenna is usually constituted of metal elements (e.g. gold). Light absorption by the metal contacts may lead to additional thermal effects which need to be taken into account to understand the complete photo- response of the device. The purpose of this communication is to discuss the contribution of laser-induced thermo-electric effects in the photo-assisted electronic transport.