We study light–matter interactions leading to the generation of photon drag voltage under surface plasmon resonance conditions in noble metal thin films and observe important effects, which provide opportunity for condensed matter theorists to critically evaluate theoretical models. The drag voltage originates from a force that arises because of the transfer of momentum from incident light to electrons. This transfer of photon momentum leads to an electric current, which in turn results in the generation of drag voltage. The effect is particularly enhanced under surface plasmon resonance conditions and thereby reinforces the interaction between light and collective oscillations of the surface charges. We observe relatively high voltages with a nonlinear dependence on laser intensity. In disagreement with previous results, we do not observe a reversal in the sign of the voltage when the direction of the incident laser momentum is reversed. Qualitative analyses of the data show that the hydrodynamic model of laser-induced drag voltage does not work: the hydrodynamic model predicts voltages that are nine orders of magnitude lower than our measurements. However, there is reasonable consistency between the results of the measurements and numerical simulations.

我们研究了在贵金属薄膜的表面等离子体共振条件下导致光子拖拽电压产生的光-物质相互作用，并观察了重要的影响，这为凝聚态理论家提供了批判性评估理论模型的机会。拖曳电压源于由于动量从入射光转移到电子而产生的力。光子动量的这种转移会产生电流，进而导致产生拖曳电压。这种效应在表面等离子体共振条件下特别增强，从而加强了光与表面电荷集体振荡之间的相互作用。我们观察到相对高的电压与激光强度的非线性相关。与之前的结果不一致，当入射激光动量的方向反转时，我们没有观察到电压符号的反转。数据的定性分析表明，激光诱导拖曳电压的流体动力学模型不起作用：流体动力学模型预测的电压比我们的测量值低 9 个数量级。然而，测量结果与数值模拟之间存在合理的一致性。