Photocurrent response in parity-time symmetric current-ordered states

Abstract

There is growing interest in the photo-induced generation of rectified current, namely photocurrent phenomenon. While the response was attributed to noncentrosymmetric structures of crystals, the parity violation accompanied by the magnetic ordering, that is, magnetic parity violation, is recently attracting attention as a platform for a photocurrent generator. In this paper, we investigate the photocurrent response in the current-ordered phase, realizing the magnetic parity violation without the spin degree of freedom, although prior studies focused on the parity-violating spin structure. The loop-current order breaks the inversion symmetry while preserving the parity-time-reversal symmetry. With a model of Sr${}_2$IrO${}_4$, we demonstrate the linearly and circularly polarized light-induced photocurrent responses in the current-ordered state. Each photocurrent has a distinct tolerance of the scattering rate according to the mechanism for the photocurrent creation. The predicted photocurrent response is comparable to that in prototypical semiconductors. We propose a probe to detect the hidden-ordered phase in Sr${}_2$IrO${}_4$ by the photocurrent response.

11 pages, 9 figures, 1 table

References in corpus (10)

• Novel Jeff = 1/2 Mott State Induced by Relativistic Spin-Orbit Coupling in Sr2IrO4
• Magnetic order in the pseudogap phase of high-$T_C$ superconductors
• Microscopic study of spin-orbit-induced Mott insulator in Ir oxides
• Ultrafast helicity control of surface currents in topological insulators with near-unity fidelity
• Dichroic f-sum rule and the orbital magnetization of crystals
• Toroidal order in metals without local inversion symmetry
• Optical detection and manipulation of spontaneous gyrotropic electronic order in a transition-metal dichalcogenide semimetal
• Neutron scattering study of correlated phase behavior in Sr2IrO4
• Absence of the polar Kerr effect in the helical loop-current model [Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 047005 (2013)]
• Optical Signature of a Crossover from Mott- to Slater-type Gap in Sr${}_2$Ir${}_{1-x}$Rh${}_x$O${}_4$