Pure Spin Photocurrent in Non-centrosymmetric Crystals: Bulk Spin Photovoltaic Effect

Abstract

Spin current generators are critical components for spintronics-based information processing. In this work, we theoretically and computationally investigate the bulk spin photovoltaic (BSPV) effect for creating DC spin current under light illumination. The only requirement for BPSV is inversion symmetry breaking, thus it applies to a broad range of materials and can be readily integrated with existing semiconductor technologies. The BSPV effect is a cousin of the bulk photovoltaic (BPV) effect, whereby a DC charge current is generated under light. Thanks to the different selection rules on spin and charge currents, a pure spin current can be realized if the system possesses mirror symmetry or inversion-mirror symmetry. The mechanism of BPSV and the role of the electronic relaxation time $\tau$ are also elucidated. We apply our theory to several distinct material systems, including transition metal dichalcogenides, anti-ferromagnetic $\mathrm{MnB}{\mathrm{i}}_2\mathrm{T}{\mathrm{e}}_4$, and the surface of topological crystalline insulator cubic $\mathrm{SnTe}$.

21 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (12)

• Quantum Computing
• Topological Crystalline Insulators
• Direct electronic measurement of the spin Hall effect
• On A Proper Definition of Spin Current
• Opto-Valleytronic Spin Injection in Monolayer MoS2/Few-Layer Graphene Hybrid Spin Valves
• Monolayer FeSe on SrTiO${}_3$
• Persistent spin current in nano-devices and definition of the spin current
• Nonlinear spin current generation in noncentrosymmetric spin-orbit coupled systems
• Giant nonlinear photocurrent in $\mathcal{P}\mathcal{T}$-symmetric magnetic topological quantum materials
• Shift charge and spin photocurrents in Dirac surface states of topological insulator
• Linear and nonlinear optical response of crystals using length and velocity gauges: Effect of basis truncation
• Giant linearly-polarized photogalvanic effect and second harmonic generation in two-dimensional axion insulators

Cited by in corpus (37)

• Pure Bulk Orbital and Spin Photocurrent in Two-Dimensional Ferroelectric Materials
• PT-symmetry enabled spin circular photogalvanic effect in antiferromagnetic insulators
• Spin photogalvanic effect in two-dimensional collinear antiferromagnets
• Shift current response in elemental two-dimensional ferroelectrics
• The Berry dipole photovoltaic demon and the thermodynamics of photo-current generation within the optical gap of metals
• Magnetic Proximity Evoked Colossal Bulk Photovoltaics in Crystalline Symmetric Layers
• Orbital Rashba effect as a platform for robust orbital photocurrents
• Tunneling spin current in a system with spin degeneracy
• A comprehensive theory of second-order spin photocurrents
• Valley contrasting bulk photovoltaic effect in antiferromagnetic MnPSe${}_3$ monolayer
• Equivalence of semiclassical and response theories for second-order nonlinear ac Hall effects
• Crystal Symmetry Selected Pure Spin Photocurrent in Altermagnetic Insulators
• Wannier Function Perturbation Theory: Localized Representation and Interpolation of Wavefunction Perturbation
• Large photogalvanic spin current by magnetic resonance in bilayer Cr trihalides
• Abnormal Surface Nonlinear Optical Responses in Topological Materials
• Band tilt induced nonlinear Nernst effect in topological insulators: An efficient generation of high-performance spin polarization
• Switchable Giant Bulk Photocurrents and Photo-spin-currents in Monolayer PT-symmetric Anti-ferromagnet MnPSe3
• Skin Effect of Nonlinear Optical Responses in Antiferromagnets
• Optical signatures of spin symmetries in unconventional magnets
• Magnetic parity violation and parity-time-reversal-symmetric magnets
• Symmetry manipulation of nonlinear optical effect for metallic TMDC
• TensorSymmetry: a package to get symmetry-adapted tensors disentangling spin-orbit coupling effect and establishing analytical relationship with magnetic order
• Laser-induced charge and spin photocurrents at BiAg${}_2$ surface: a first principles benchmark
• Electric field controlled valley-polarized photocurrent switch based on the circular bulk photovoltaic effect
• Photocurrents of charge and spin in single-layer Fe${}_3$GeTe${}_2$
• Nonlinear Nonreciprocal Photocurrents under Phonon Dressing
• Manipulating Photogalvanic Effects in Two-Dimensional Multiferroic Breathing Kagome Materials
• Laser Cooling of Nuclear Magnons
• Optically induced spin Hall current in Janus transition-metal dichalcogenides
• Quantization of spin circular photogalvanic effect in altermagnetic Weyl semimetals
• Linear and Nonlinear Edelstein Effects in Chiral Topological Semimetals
• Symmetry-driven Intrinsic Nonlinear Pure Spin Hall Effect
• Efficient Quantum Transduction Using Anti-Ferromagnetic Topological Insulators
• Two-dimensional Intrinsic Janus Structures: Design Principle and Anomalous Nonlinear Optics
• Coherence Control of Directional Nonlinear Photocurrent in Spatially Symmetric Systems
• Enabling the bulk photovoltaic effect in centrosymmetric materials through an external electric field
• Shift current conductivity in monolayer SnS: a tight-binding analysis