Photon-drag photovoltaic effects and quantum geometric nature

TL;DR

This paper provides a theoretical analysis of photon-drag induced bulk photovoltaic effects, linking them to quantum geometric tensors, and demonstrates their occurrence in centrosymmetric materials like 1T'-WTe2 and magnetic Weyl semimetals.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive theory connecting photon-drag BPVE to quantum geometric tensors and shows how to isolate shift currents in centrosymmetric materials.

Findings

Photon-drag BPVE can be linked to quantum geometric tensors.

Photon-drag shift currents can be isolated in non-magnetic centrosymmetric materials.

Linearly polarized light induces shift currents in magnetic Weyl semimetals.

Abstract

The bulk photovoltaic effect (BPVE) generates a direct current photocurrent under uniform irradiation and is a nonlinear optical effect traditionally studied in non-centrosymmetric materials. The two main origins of BPVE are the shift and injection currents, arising from transitions in electron position and electron velocity during optical excitation, respectively. Recently, it was proposed that photon-drag effects could unlock BPVE in centrosymmetric materials. However, experimental progress remains limited. In this work, we provide a comprehensive theoretical analysis of photon-drag effects inducing BPVE (photon-drag BPVE). Notably, we find that photon-drag BPVE can be directly linked to quantum geometric tensors. Additionally, we propose that photon-drag shift currents can be fully isolated from other current contributions in non-magnetic centrosymmetric materials. We apply our theory explicitly to the 2D topological insulator $1T'$-WTe$_2$. Furthermore, we investigate photon-drag BPVE in a centrosymmetric magnetic Weyl semimetal, where we demonstrate that linearly polarized light generates photon-drag shift currents.