Polariton-drag enabled quantum geometric photocurrents in high symmetry materials

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that polariton-drag processes can induce quantum geometric photocurrents in high symmetry, non-magnetic materials, enabling momentum-resolved probing of quantum geometry through giant photocurrent enhancements.

Contribution

It introduces polariton-drag enabled quantum geometric photocurrents as a new mechanism in high symmetry materials, revealing a method to access forbidden responses.

Findings

Polariton-drag processes unblock quantum geometric photocurrents in non-magnetic materials.

Fermi surface position influences giant photocurrent enhancements.

Polariton selective photoexcitation enables momentum-resolved quantum geometry measurements.

Abstract

Lowered symmetry enables access to a wide set of responses not typically accessible in high symmetry materials. Prime examples are time-reversal forbidden quantum geometric photocurrent responses (e.g., linear injection and circular shift photocurrents) that are thought to vanish in non-magnetic materials. Here we argue that polariton-drag processes enable to unblock such quantum geometric photocurrents even in non-magnetic and centrosymmetric materials. Strikingly, we uncover how a cooperative effect between finite q irradiation and the Fermi surface position leads to a polariton selective photoexcitation (PSP). PSP enables to directly address carriers within tight momentum resolved windows of the Fermi surface to yield giant enhancements of quantum geometric photocurrents. This selectivity enables to directly track momentum resolved quantum geometric quantities along the Fermi surface providing a new tool to interrogate the quantum geometry of high symmetry materials.