Quantum Interference Control of Femtosecond, mu A Current Bursts in Single GaAs Nanowires

A phase-stable superposition of femtosecond pulses from a compact erbium-doped fiber source and their second harmonic is shown to induce ultrashort similar to mu A current bursts in single unbiased GaAs nanowires. Current injection relies on a quantum interference of one- and two-photon absorption pathways. The vector direction of the current is solely dictated by the polarization and relative phase of the harmonically related light components while its power dependence is consistent with a third order optical nonlinearity.