Layer photovoltaic effect in van der Waals heterostructures

Abstract

We argue that the layer electric polarization of noncentrosymmetric layered heterostructures can be generically controlled by light yielding a layer photovoltaic effect (LPE). The LPE possesses a rich phenomenology and can arise from myriad distinct mechanisms displaying strong sensitivity to symmetry (e.g., point group and time-reversal) as well as the presence/absence of a Fermi surface. We systematically classify these and unveil how LPE manifests for a range of light polarizations and even for unpolarized light. These unusual layer photoresponses can be realized in a range of layered heterostructures such as bilayer graphene aligned on hexagonal Boron Nitride and manifest sizeable layer polarization susceptibilities in the terahertz frequency range that can be used as novel means of bulk photodetection.

8 pages, 2 figures

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Cited by in corpus (6)

• Roadmap for Photonics with 2D Materials
• Planar Hall Effect in Quasi-Two-Dimensional Materials
• Interlayer electric multipoles induced by in-plane field from quantum geometric origins
• Intrinsic and extrinsic photogalvanic effects in twisted bilayer graphene
• Anti-screening and nonequilibrium layer electric phases in graphene multilayers
• Orbital Longitudinal Magneto-electric Coupling in Multilayer Graphene