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Title: Unconventional Photocurrents from Surface Fermi Arcs in Topological Chiral Semimetals

Journal Article · · Physical Review Letters
ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [2];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [3]; ORCiD logo [3];  [1];  [4];  [5];  [6]
  1. Princeton Univ., NJ (United States). Dept. of Physics
  2. Univ. of Zurich (Switzerland). Dept. of Physics
  3. National Sun Yat-Sen Univ., Kaohsiung (Taiwan). Dept. of Physics
  4. Princeton Univ., NJ (United States). Dept. of Physics; Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States). Dept. of Chemistry and Chemical Biology
  5. Academia Sinica, Taipei (Taiwan). Inst. of Physics
  6. Princeton Univ., NJ (United States). Dept. of Physics; Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Materials Sciences Division

The nonlinear optical responses from topological semimetals are crucial in both understanding the fundamental properties of quantum materials and designing next-generation light sensors or solar cells. However, previous work focused on the optical effects from bulk states only, disregarding the responses from topological surface states. Here, we propose a new surface-only photocurrent response from chiral Fermi arcs. Using the ideal topological chiral semimetal RhSi as a representative, we quantitatively compute the photogalvanic currents from Fermi arcs on different surfaces. By rigorous crystal symmetry analysis, we demonstrate that Fermi arc photogalvanic currents can be perpendicular to the bulk injection currents regardless of the choice of materials surface. We then generalize this finding to other cubic chiral space groups and predict material candidates. Our theory reveals a powerful notion where common crystalline symmetry can be used to completely disentangle bulk and surface optical responses in many conducting material families.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); Ministry of Science and Technology in Taiwan (MOST); European Research Council (ERC); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231; MOST108-2112-M110-013-MY3; FG-02-05ER46200; MOST109-2112-M-001-014-MY3; ERC-StG-Neupert-757867-PARATOP; DGE-1656466
OSTI ID:
1638203
Journal Information:
Physical Review Letters, Vol. 124, Issue 16; ISSN 0031-9007
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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