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    Photogalvanic-effect-induced generation of simultaneous charge and spin currents in a four-probe monolayer MoS2 device

    Bo Bian1, Zhanran Wang1, Lei Zhang2,3,*, and Zhizhou Yu1,†

    • 1Center for Quantum Transport and Thermal Energy Science, Institute of Physics Frontiers and Interdisciplinary Sciences, School of Physics and Technology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China
    • 2State Key Laboratory of Quantum Optics Technologies and Devices, Institute of Laser Spectroscopy, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China
    • 3Collaborative Innovation Center of Extreme Optics, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China

    • *Contact author: zhanglei@sxu.edu.cn
    • †Contact author: yuzhizhou@njnu.edu.cn

    Phys. Rev. Applied 25, 014003 – Published 2 January, 2026

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/cw1g-yj49

    Abstract

    The generation of pure spin current, as well as that of pure charge current, is critical for future quantum information processing. Here, we propose a four-probe device based on monolayer MoS2 and investigate both linear and circular photogalvanic effects by employing the nonequilibrium Green’s function combined with density functional theory. Under linearly polarized light, when the polarization direction aligns with one of the transport directions, a pure spin photocurrent is generated along the zigzag direction, while a pure charge photocurrent is produced simultaneously along the armchair direction. This effect is independent of the incident angle for light incident from a plane perpendicular to the monolayer MoS2. In contrast, simultaneous generation of pure spin and pure charge photocurrents cannot be realized under circularly polarized light. Symmetry analysis of the bulk-spin photovoltaic effect indicates that concurrent generation of pure charge and pure spin currents requires broken inversion symmetry combined with mirror symmetry along a specific direction. This mechanism extends to a wide range of two-dimensional materials, offering opportunities for photogalvanic effects in next-generation electronic and spintronic devices.

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