Radiation Pressure and Momentum Transfer in Dielectrics:
The Photon Drag Effect
Rodney Loudon, Stephen M. Barnett, C. Baxter
Physical Review A, 71, 063802 (2005)
The momentum transfer from light to a dielectric material in the photon drag effect is calculated by
evaluation of the relevant Lorentz force. In accordance with measurements on Si and Ge, the material is taken
as a two-component optical system, with charge carriers described by an extinction coefficient
in a host
semiconductor described by real refractive indices
(phase) and
(group). The calculated momentum
transfer to the charge carriers alone has the value
per photon, the so-called Minkowski value, found
experimentally. The time-dependent Lorentz force is calculated for light in the form of a narrow-band singlephoton
pulse. When the pulse is much shorter than the attenuation length, which is much shorter than the
sample thickness, there is a clear separation in time between surface and bulk contributions to the forces. The
total bulk momentum transfer (charges plus host) in this case is found to be
, the so-called Abraham value.