Tunneling Recombination in Optically Pumped Graphene with Electron-Hole Puddles *

This chapter evaluates recombination of electrons and holes in optically pumped graphene associated with the interband tunneling between electron-hole puddles and calculate the recombination rate and time. It shows that the tunneling recombination rate and time are nonmonotonic functions of the quasi-Fermi energies of electrons and holes and optical pumping intensity. The gapless energy spectrum of electrons and holes in graphene layers and non-Bernal stacked multiple graphene layers, which leads to specific features of its electrical and optical processes, opens up prospects of building of novel devices exploiting the interband absorption and emission of terahertz and infrared photons. The chapter finds the dependences of the recombination rate and time in optically pumped graphene with electron-hole puddles on the quasi-Fermi energy of electrons and holes. The dependences of the recombination and time on the quasi-Fermi energy and pumping intensity can be nonmonotonic resulting in hysteresis phenomena.