Terahertz emission in the van der Waals magnet CrSiTe3

TL;DR

This study demonstrates strong terahertz emission from the surface of the van der Waals magnet CrSiTe3, revealing the role of shift current and surface symmetry in its nonlinear optical response, with implications for spintronic and THz applications.

Contribution

It provides the first experimental and theoretical analysis of THz emission in CrSiTe3, highlighting the surface shift current as the main mechanism and opening avenues for 2D magnetic THz emitters.

Findings

Strong THz emission observed from CrSiTe3 surface.

Surface shift current dominates the THz emission mechanism.

THz emission depends on azimuthal and polarization angles.

Abstract

The van der Waals magnet CrSiTe3 (CST) has captured immense interest because it is capable of retaining the long-range ferromagnetic order even in its monolayer form, thus offering potential use in spintronic devices. Bulk CST crystal has inversion symmetry that is broken on the crystal surface. Here, by employing ultrafast terahertz (THz) emission spectroscopy and time resolved THz spectroscopy, the THz emission of the CST crystal was investigated, which shows a strong THz emission from the crystal surface under femtosecond (fs) pulse excitation at 800 nm. Theoretical analysis based on space symmetry of CST suggests the dominant role of shift current occurring on the surface with a thickness of a few quintuple layers in producing the THz emission, in consistence with the experimental observation that the emitted THz amplitude strongly depends on the azimuthal and pumping polarization angles. The present study offers a new efficient THz emitter as well as a better understanding of the nonlinear optical response of CST. It hopefully will open a window toward the investigation on the nonlinear optical response in the mono-/few-layer van der Waals crystals with low-dimensional magnetism.