ABSTRACT
This chapter develops the model for the terahertz (THz) and infrared (IR) photoconductivity of graphene layers (GLs) at room temperature. The model accounts for the linear GL energy spectrum and the features of the energy relaxation and generation-recombination mechanisms inherent at room temperature, namely, the optical phonon absorption and emission and the Auger interband processes. The chapter shows how that the GL photoconductivity can change sign depending on the photon frequency, the GL doping and the dominant mechanism of the carrier momentum relaxation. It evaluates the responsivity of the THz and IR photodetectors using the GL photoconductivity. The chapter assumes that the carrier momentum relaxation is associated with impurity scattering, scattering on defects, and and on the acoustic phonons. The THz and IR photoconductivity in GLs is associated with the interplay of the variations of the carrier effective temperature and density.
