Relevance of collinear processes to the ultrafast dynamics of photoexcited carriers in graphene

Abstract The importance of interband transitions on the ultrafast relaxation process in photoexcited pristine graphene is evaluated by means of an ensemble Monte Carlo simulator. Impact ionization and Auger recombination in the collinear limit are considered, together with phonon-induced generation and recombination and intraband scattering mechanisms. The results show that collinear impact ionization is dominant in the first 100 femtoseconds, creating an important excess carrier population that is finally eliminated in the picosecond scale, together with the photoexcited population, by Auger and optical phonon-assisted recombination. The hot phonon effect is also important, stimulating phonon absorption and indirectly reducing the net collinear recombination in the hundreds of femtosecond range. The substrate type is an important factor, appeasing collinear impact ionization via screening and creating additional cooling channels that speed up the relaxation process. The results evidence that interband collinear generation processes are critical to explain the fastest stages of the relaxation process in graphene.