Shift spin photocurrents in two-dimensional systems

Hsiu-Chuan Hsu, Tsung-Wei Chen

Published 2024-11-27Version 1

The generation of nonlinear spin photocurrents by circularly polarized light in two-dimensional systems is theoretically investigated by calculating the shift spin conductivities. In time-reversal symmetric systems, shift spin photocurrent can be generated under the irradiation of circularly polarized light , while the shift charge photoccurrent is forbidden by symmetry. We show that $k$-cubic Rashba-Dresselhaus system, the $k$-cubic Wurtzite system and Dirac surface states can support the shift spin photocurrent. By symmetry analysis, it is found that in the Rashba type spin-orbit coupled systems, mirror symmetry requires that the spin polarization and the moving direction of the spin photocurrent are parallel, which we name as longitudinal shift spin photocurrent. The Dirac surface states with warping term exhibit mirror symmetry, similar to the Rashba type system, and support longitudinal shift spin photocurrent. In contrast, in the Dresselhaus type spin-orbit coupled systems, the parity-mirror symmetry requires that the spin polarization and the moving direction of the spin photocurrent are perpendicular, which we dub as transverse shift spin photocurrent. Furthermore, we find that the shift spin photocurrent always vanishes in any $k$-linear spin-orbit coupled system unless the Zeeman coupling is turned on. We find that the splitting of degenerate energy bands due to Zeeman coupling $\mu_z$ causes the van Hove singularity. The resulting shift spin conductivity has a significant peak at optical frequency $\omega=2\mu_z/\hbar$.