Switchable magnetic bulk photovoltaic effect in the two-dimensional magnet CrI3

Yang Zhang, Tobias Holder, Hiroaki Ishizuka, Fernando Juan, Naoto Nagaosa, Claudia Felser and Binghai Yan ()
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Yang Zhang: Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids
Tobias Holder: Weizmann Institute of Science
Hiroaki Ishizuka: University of Tokyo
Fernando Juan: Donostia International Physics Center
Naoto Nagaosa: RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS)
Claudia Felser: Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids
Binghai Yan: Weizmann Institute of Science

Nature Communications, 2019, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract The bulk photovoltaic effect (BPVE) rectifies light into the dc current in a single-phase material and attracts the interest to design high-efficiency solar cells beyond the pn junction paradigm. Because it is a hot electron effect, the BPVE surpasses the thermodynamic Shockley–Queisser limit to generate above-band-gap photovoltage. While the guiding principle for BPVE materials is to break the crystal centrosymmetry, here we propose a magnetic photogalvanic effect (MPGE) that introduces the magnetism as a key ingredient and induces a giant BPVE. The MPGE emerges from the magnetism-induced asymmetry of the carrier velocity in the band structure. We demonstrate the MPGE in a layered magnetic insulator CrI3, with much larger photoconductivity than any previously reported results. The photocurrent can be reversed and switched by controllable magnetic transitions. Our work paves a pathway to search for magnetic photovoltaic materials and to design switchable devices combining magnetic, electronic, and optical functionalities.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-11832-3

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