Terahertz Spectroscopy of Nanomaterials: a Close Look at Charge-Carrier Transport

Terahertz spectroscopy has been used for almost two decades for investigations of nanomaterials, including nanocrystals, nanoparticles, nanowires, nanotubes or 2D crystals. Its great importance stems from the fact that it is a noncontact method and, owing to its high frequency and broadband character, it is capable of characterizing charge transport properties within individual nano-objects but also among them. In addition, probing of photoinitiated ultrafast charge dynamics is possible thanks to the sub-picosecond time resolution. Despite this unprecedented potential, the interpretation of the measured terahertz conductivity spectra in many materials is still intensively debated. Herein is presented a review of the experiments performed on nanostructures of conventional semiconductors and on carbon nanomaterials (graphene and carbon nanotubes) during the past decade. The state of the art of the theoretical formalism is provided and discussed, including the intrinsic response, as well as the role of inherent heterogeneity and of the experimental conditions.