Theory for shift current of bosons: Photogalvanic spin current in ferrimagnetic and antiferromagnetic insulators

Abstract

We theoretically study the optical generation of dc spin current (i.e., a spin-current solar cell) in ordered antiferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic insulators, motivated by a recent study on the laser-driven spinon spin current in noncentrosymmetric quantum spin chains [H. Ishizuka and M. Sato, Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 197702 (2019)]. Using a non-linear response theory for magnons, we analyze the dc spin current generated by a linearly-polarized electromagnetic wave (typically, terahertz or gigahertz waves). Considering noncentrosymmetric two-sublattice magnets as an example, we find a finite dc spin current conductivity at $T=0$, where no thermally-excited magnons exist; this is in contrast to the case of the spinon spin current, in which the optical transition of the Fermi degenerate spinons plays an essential role. We find that the dc spin-current conductivity is insensitive to the Gilbert damping, i.e., it may be viewed as a shift current carried by bosonic particles (magnons). Our estimate shows that an electric-field intensity of $E\sim 10^4-10^6$ V/cm is sufficient for an observable spin current. Our theory indicates that the linearly-polarized electromagnetic wave generally produces a dc spin current in noncentrosymmetric magnetic insulators.

13 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (8)

• Direct electronic measurement of the spin Hall effect
• Triple-resonant Brillouin light scattering in magneto-optical cavities
• Observation of spin current in quantum spin liquid
• Enhanced DC Spin Pumping into a Fluctuating Ferromagnet near Tc
• Theoretically predicted picosecond optical switching of spin chirality in multiferroics
• Local photo-excitation of shift current in noncentrosymmetric systems
• Rectification of Spin Current in Inversion-Asymmetric Magnets with Linearly-Polarized Electromagnetic Waves
• Polar State induced by Block-type Lattice Distortions in BaFe2Se3 with Quasi-One-Dimensional Ladder Structure

Cited by in corpus (16)

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• Nonlinear magnon spin Nernst effect in antiferromagnets and strain-tunable pure spin current
• Topological Hall effect in the antiferromagnetic Dirac semimetal EuAgAs
• High-harmonic generation by electric polarization, spin current, and magnetization
• Linear and Nonlinear Optical Responses in Kitaev Spin Liquids
• Intrinsic nonlinear thermal Hall transport of magnons: A Quantum kinetic theory approach
• Large photogalvanic spin current by magnetic resonance in bilayer Cr trihalides
• Two-photon driven magnon-pair resonance as a signature of spin-nematic order
• Non-linear magnon transport in a bilayer van der Waals antiferromagnets
• Nonlinear spin current of photoexcited magnons in collinear antiferromagnets
• Peltier effect of phonon driven by ac electromagnetic waves
• Interaction-induced nonlinear magnon transport in noncentrosymmetric magnets
• Optomagnonic Josephson effect in antiferromagnets
• Nonlinear analog spintronics with van der Waals heterostructures
• Generation of dc, ac, and second-harmonic spin currents by electromagnetic fields in an inversion-asymmetric antiferromagnet
• All-Optical Generation of Antiferromagnetic Magnon Currents via the Magnon Circular Photogalvanic Effect