Shift photocurrent vortices from topological polarization textures

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Agarwal, Aneesh, Jankowski, Wojciech J., Bennett, Daniel, Slager, Robert-Jan
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2024
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author Agarwal, Aneesh
Jankowski, Wojciech J.
Bennett, Daniel
Slager, Robert-Jan
author_facet Agarwal, Aneesh
Jankowski, Wojciech J.
Bennett, Daniel
Slager, Robert-Jan
contents Following the recent interest in van der Waals (vdW) ferroelectrics, topologically nontrivial polar structures have been predicted to form in twisted bilayers. However, these structures have proven difficult to observe experimentally. We propose that these textures may be probed optically by showing that topological polarization textures result in exotic nonlinear optical responses. We derive this relationship analytically using non-Abelian Berry connections and a quantum-geometric framework, supported by tight-binding and first-principles calculations. For the case of moiré materials without centrosymmetry, which form networks of polar merons and antimerons, the shift photoconductivity forms a vortex-like structure in real space. For a range of frequencies where transitions between topologically trivial bands occur at the Brillouin zone edge, the shift photocurrents are antiparallel to the in-plane electronic polarization field. Our findings highlight the interplay between complex polarization textures and nonlinear optical responses in vdW materials and provide a sought-after strategy for their experimental detection.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2408_04017
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Shift photocurrent vortices from topological polarization textures
Agarwal, Aneesh
Jankowski, Wojciech J.
Bennett, Daniel
Slager, Robert-Jan
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Materials Science
Optics
Quantum Physics
Following the recent interest in van der Waals (vdW) ferroelectrics, topologically nontrivial polar structures have been predicted to form in twisted bilayers. However, these structures have proven difficult to observe experimentally. We propose that these textures may be probed optically by showing that topological polarization textures result in exotic nonlinear optical responses. We derive this relationship analytically using non-Abelian Berry connections and a quantum-geometric framework, supported by tight-binding and first-principles calculations. For the case of moiré materials without centrosymmetry, which form networks of polar merons and antimerons, the shift photoconductivity forms a vortex-like structure in real space. For a range of frequencies where transitions between topologically trivial bands occur at the Brillouin zone edge, the shift photocurrents are antiparallel to the in-plane electronic polarization field. Our findings highlight the interplay between complex polarization textures and nonlinear optical responses in vdW materials and provide a sought-after strategy for their experimental detection.
title Shift photocurrent vortices from topological polarization textures
topic Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Materials Science
Optics
Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.04017