Anomalous shift and optical vorticity in the steady photovoltaic current

Abstract

Steady illumination of a non-centrosymmetric semiconductor results in a bulk photovoltaic current, which is contributed by real-space displacements (`shifts') of charged quasiparticles as they transit between Bloch states. The shift induced by interband excitation via absorption of photons has received the prevailing attention. However, this excitation-induced shift can be far outweighed ($\ll$) by the shift induced by intraband relaxation, or by the shift induced by radiative recombination of electron-hole pairs. This outweighing ($\ll$) is attributed to (i) time-reversal-symmetric, intraband Berry curvature, which results in an anomalous shift of quasiparticles as they scatter with phonons, as well as to (ii) topological singularities in the interband Berry phase (`optical vortices'), which makes the photovoltaic current extraordinarily sensitive to the linear polarization vector of the light source. Both (i-ii) potentially lead to nonlinear conductivities of order $mA{V}^{-2}$, without finetuning of the incident radiation frequency, band gap, or joint density of states. A case study of BiTeI showcases the anomalous shift and optical vorticity in a realistic material.

arXiv comment22+55 pages, 10+9 Figures; We touched up a few derivations, presented a more nuanced discussion of potential solar cell applications in v2; We presented a Chern-vorticity theorem that relates optical vortices and Chern numbers, and a case study on BiTeI in v3; In v4, we presented more discussion about photovoltaic effect in BiTeI

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• Gauge-invariant projector calculus for quantum state geometry and applications to observables in crystals
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• Exploring Many-Body Quantum Geometry Beyond the Quantum Metric with Correlation Functions: A Time-Dependent Perspective
• Manipulating Charge Distribution in Moiré Superlattices by Light