Transverse chiral magnetic photocurrent induced by linearly polarized light in mirror-symmetric Weyl semimetals
A class of photocurrents is predicted to occur in both type-I and type-II Weyl semimetals. Unlike the previously studied photocurrents in chiral materials, the proposed current requires neither circularly polarized light nor an absence of symmetry with respect to a plane of reflection. We show that...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Physical Society
2020-10-01
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| Series: | Physical Review Research |
| Online Access: | http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.042011 |
| _version_ | 1797211184656547840 |
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| author | Sahal Kaushik Dmitri E. Kharzeev Evan John Philip |
| author_facet | Sahal Kaushik Dmitri E. Kharzeev Evan John Philip |
| author_sort | Sahal Kaushik |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A class of photocurrents is predicted to occur in both type-I and type-II Weyl semimetals. Unlike the previously studied photocurrents in chiral materials, the proposed current requires neither circularly polarized light nor an absence of symmetry with respect to a plane of reflection. We show that if a Weyl semimetal has a broken inversion symmetry then linearly polarized light can induce a photocurrent transverse to the direction of an applied magnetic field, in spite of the symmetry with respect to a reflection plane and the time reversal symmetry. The class of materials in which we expect this to occur is sufficiently broad and includes the transition metal monopnictides such as TaAs. The effect stems from the dynamics of Weyl chiral quasiparticles in a magnetic field, restricted by the symmetries described above; because the resulting current is transverse to the direction of magnetic field, we call it the transverse chiral magnetic photocurrent. The magnitude of the resulting photocurrent is predicted to be significant in the THz frequency range, about 0.75μA for type-I and 2.5μA for type-II Weyl semimetals. This opens the possibility to utilize the predicted transverse chiral magnetic photocurrent for sensing unpolarized THz radiation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T10:22:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1ab81cd3116c4ad48257ff8c34d8d256 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2643-1564 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T10:22:27Z |
| publishDate | 2020-10-01 |
| publisher | American Physical Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Physical Review Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-1ab81cd3116c4ad48257ff8c34d8d2562024-04-12T17:02:21ZengAmerican Physical SocietyPhysical Review Research2643-15642020-10-012404201110.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.042011Transverse chiral magnetic photocurrent induced by linearly polarized light in mirror-symmetric Weyl semimetalsSahal KaushikDmitri E. KharzeevEvan John PhilipA class of photocurrents is predicted to occur in both type-I and type-II Weyl semimetals. Unlike the previously studied photocurrents in chiral materials, the proposed current requires neither circularly polarized light nor an absence of symmetry with respect to a plane of reflection. We show that if a Weyl semimetal has a broken inversion symmetry then linearly polarized light can induce a photocurrent transverse to the direction of an applied magnetic field, in spite of the symmetry with respect to a reflection plane and the time reversal symmetry. The class of materials in which we expect this to occur is sufficiently broad and includes the transition metal monopnictides such as TaAs. The effect stems from the dynamics of Weyl chiral quasiparticles in a magnetic field, restricted by the symmetries described above; because the resulting current is transverse to the direction of magnetic field, we call it the transverse chiral magnetic photocurrent. The magnitude of the resulting photocurrent is predicted to be significant in the THz frequency range, about 0.75μA for type-I and 2.5μA for type-II Weyl semimetals. This opens the possibility to utilize the predicted transverse chiral magnetic photocurrent for sensing unpolarized THz radiation.http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.042011 |
| spellingShingle | Sahal Kaushik Dmitri E. Kharzeev Evan John Philip Transverse chiral magnetic photocurrent induced by linearly polarized light in mirror-symmetric Weyl semimetals Physical Review Research |
| title | Transverse chiral magnetic photocurrent induced by linearly polarized light in mirror-symmetric Weyl semimetals |
| title_full | Transverse chiral magnetic photocurrent induced by linearly polarized light in mirror-symmetric Weyl semimetals |
| title_fullStr | Transverse chiral magnetic photocurrent induced by linearly polarized light in mirror-symmetric Weyl semimetals |
| title_full_unstemmed | Transverse chiral magnetic photocurrent induced by linearly polarized light in mirror-symmetric Weyl semimetals |
| title_short | Transverse chiral magnetic photocurrent induced by linearly polarized light in mirror-symmetric Weyl semimetals |
| title_sort | transverse chiral magnetic photocurrent induced by linearly polarized light in mirror symmetric weyl semimetals |
| url | http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.042011 |
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