Physical Transformation AtlasPTA
Phenomenon · phenomenon:photo-dember-effect

Photo-Dember effect

Non-uniform photoexcitation creates electron and hole concentration gradients; unequal carrier transport separates charge and sets up a Dember field. Under ultrafast pulsed excitation the transient current is widely used for terahertz emission; steady-state Dember photovoltages are derived in the same framework.

Optics and photonicsfirst reported 1931also: photodiffusion voltage, surface photocurrent

Atlas record: 3 claims reference this phenomenon — 3 established.

Explorerelations · matrix context · routes · sources · cite

conditions: solid · semiconductor required · illumination required
3claims1enumerated routes0routes with complete-composition evidence1candidate routes not searched3cited sources

Relations

drives · 1
Incident radiation flux—drives→Photo-Dember effectestablished
  • non-uniform above-gap illumination of a semiconductor with a large electron–hole mobility difference (InAs, InSb); pulsed excitation gives the transient current used for terahertz emission, steady illumination a Dember photovoltage
produces · 1
Photo-Dember effect—produces→Separated surface chargeestablished
member of · 1
Photo-Dember effect—member of→Photodiffusiveestablished

Matrix context

D = disequilibrium row · C = coupling family column. A cell reads the state of the atlas for that pair.

D.11 × C.36 · Incident radiation flux × Photodiffusive · Established
family: Photodiffusive (C.36)

Enumerated routes through this · 1

Cited sources · 3

  1. [1]
    V. Apostolopoulos, M. E. Barnes. THz emitters based on the photo-Dember effect (2014)
    Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics 47, 374002 · doi:10.1088/0022-3727/47/37/374002 · crossref ✓ 2026-09-20 · record
  2. [2]
    M. B. Johnston et al.. Simulation of terahertz generation at semiconductor surfaces (2002)
    Physical Review B 65, 165301 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.65.165301 · crossref ✓ 2026-09-20 · record
  3. [3]
    J. F. Schetzina. Steady-state transport in trap-dominated relaxation semiconductors (1975)
    Physical Review B 11, 4994–4998 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.11.4994 · crossref ✓ 2026-09-20 · record

Cite this entity

Physical Transformation Atlas (2026). entity phenomenon:photo-dember-effect: Photo-Dember effect. Dataset revision rbfbfcbb70e57 (hash of the canonical data). https://physical-transformation-atlas.wldud5192.workers.dev/phenomenon/photo-dember-effect

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