Colossal Bulk Photovoltaic Effect in a Weyl Semimetal
Abstract
Broadband, efficient and fast conversion of light to electricity is crucial for sensing and clean energy. Here we reveal the largest observed bulk photo-voltaic effect (BPVE), an intrinsic mechanism predicted to be ultrafast and exceed the Shockley-Quiesser limit. This discovery results from combining recent developments in the connection of BPVE to topology, Weyl semimetals and focused-ion beam fabrication. Our room temperature observation of the first BPVE in the mid-IR, is enabled by microscopic devices of the Weyl semimetal TaAs. Detailed symmetry analysis enables unambiguous separation of this response from competing photo-thermal effects. The size and wavelength range of the shift current offers new opportunities in optical detectors, clean energy, and topology, while directly demonstrating the utility of Weyl semimetals for applications.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1712.04951,
title = {Colossal Bulk Photovoltaic Effect in a Weyl Semimetal},
author = {Gavin B. Osterhoudt and Laura K. Diebel and Mason J. Gray and Xu Yang and John Stanco and Xiangwei Huang and Bing Shen and Ni Ni and Philip J. W. Moll and Ying Ran and Kenneth S. Burch},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1712.04951},
year = {2019}
}
Comments
19 pages, 3 figures