Photovoltaic Hall Effect by Electric Field-Induced Berry Curvature and Energy Shift

Abstract: Helicity-dependent photocurrents perpendicular to a bias electric field have attracted considerable attention as an expression of optically controlled Berry curvature in Floquet engineering. More recent studies have revealed a larger contribution by the momentum asymmetry of photocarriers to this photovoltaic Hall effect, although its physical mechanism has not yet been elucidated. In this study, we describe this phenomenon as a circular photogalvanic effect caused by an electric field-induced Berry curvature. The shift vector provides an additional contribution through the energy shift of interband transitions. A resonant enhancement of the transverse photocurrent occurs in GaAs owing to the topological character of the valence band. Our results present a geometric picture of the third-order nonlinear response under light and bias fields, shedding new light on Berry curvature engineering.