Nonlinear optical diode effect in a magnetic Weyl semimetal

Christian Tzschaschel (), Jian-Xiang Qiu, Xue-Jian Gao, Hou-Chen Li, Chunyu Guo, Hung-Yu Yang, Cheng-Ping Zhang, Ying-Ming Xie, Yu-Fei Liu, Anyuan Gao, Damien Bérubé, Thao Dinh, Sheng-Chin Ho, Yuqiang Fang, Fuqiang Huang, Johanna Nordlander, Qiong Ma, Fazel Tafti, Philip J. W. Moll, Kam Tuen Law and Su-Yang Xu ()
Additional contact information
Christian Tzschaschel: Harvard University
Jian-Xiang Qiu: Harvard University
Xue-Jian Gao: Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Hou-Chen Li: Harvard University
Chunyu Guo: Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter
Hung-Yu Yang: Boston College
Cheng-Ping Zhang: Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Ying-Ming Xie: Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Yu-Fei Liu: Harvard University
Anyuan Gao: Harvard University
Damien Bérubé: Harvard University
Thao Dinh: Harvard University
Sheng-Chin Ho: Harvard University
Yuqiang Fang: Chinese Academy of Science
Fuqiang Huang: Chinese Academy of Science
Johanna Nordlander: Harvard University
Qiong Ma: Boston College
Fazel Tafti: Boston College
Philip J. W. Moll: Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter
Kam Tuen Law: Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Su-Yang Xu: Harvard University

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Diode effects are of great interest for both fundamental physics and modern technologies. Electrical diode effects (nonreciprocal transport) have been observed in Weyl systems. Optical diode effects arising from the Weyl fermions have been theoretically considered but not probed experimentally. Here, we report the observation of a nonlinear optical diode effect (NODE) in the magnetic Weyl semimetal CeAlSi, where the magnetization introduces a pronounced directionality in the nonlinear optical second-harmonic generation (SHG). We demonstrate a six-fold change of the measured SHG intensity between opposite propagation directions over a bandwidth exceeding 250 meV. Supported by density-functional theory, we establish the linearly dispersive bands emerging from Weyl nodes as the origin of this broadband effect. We further demonstrate current-induced magnetization switching and thus electrical control of the NODE. Our results advance ongoing research to identify novel nonlinear optical/transport phenomena in magnetic topological materials and further opens new pathways for the unidirectional manipulation of light.

Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-47291-8 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-47291-8

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47291-8

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().