Nonlinear response functions and disorder: the case of photogalvanic effect

Abstract: We investigate the impact of impurity scattering on a generalized version of the circular photogalvanic effect (CPGE) in Weyl semimetals where the frequency detuning between the two orthogonally polarized beams is non-zero. Considering a minimal model with two Weyl nodes at different energies, we employ the self-consistent Born approximation (SCBA) to unravel the dependence of the associated complex correlation function on the strength of intra- and internode scattering, frequency detuning and energy difference between the two Weyl nodes. In the case of intranode scattering only, the optical response acquires Drude-like features, which we elucidate further by introducing an effective scattering strength. The Drude-like theory can even describe the response in presence of strong internode scattering if the latter has a fixed proportionality factor to the intranode scattering. By properly adjusting the frequency detuning, we also find the imaginary part of the response function to be reminiscent of a "quantized CPGE-like" form, although the real part of the response function is in general finite, and the total optical response oscillates with time due to the finite frequency offset. We finally conclude with an outlook on possible experimental consequences.