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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Spin-selective elliptic optical dichroism and perfectly spin-polarized third-order nonlinear photocurrent in altermagnets

Motohiko Ezawa

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Phys. Rev. B 114, L111201 – Published 13 August, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/5rrq-5g1k

Abstract

We show that the low-energy theory of a d-wave altermagnet is characterized by anisotropic Dirac cones with spin-split band structures based on a recently proposed tight-binding model. In this system, spin-selective perfect elliptic dichroism emerges, enabling exclusive excitation of either up-spin or down-spin electrons by tuning the ellipticity of the incident light. We further derive a formula for the third-order photocurrent generated under simultaneous application of elliptically polarized light and a static electric field, expressed in terms of the quantum metric and Berry curvature. Using this formula, we demonstrate that only an up-spin polarized current is induced. This third-order response constitutes the leading photocurrent, as second-order processes such as injection and shift currents are forbidden by the inversion symmetry inherent to altermagnets. They lead to the prediction that, in insulating d-wave altermagnets, a spin-polarized third-order photocurrent arises as the leading electric response when elliptically polarized light and a static electric field are applied simultaneously. These findings provide a foundation for future developments in photoinduced spintronics based on altermagnets.

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Outline

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Phys. Rev. B 114, L111201– Published 13 August, 2026
  • Received 8 March 2026
  • Revised 15 June 2026
  • Accepted 21 July 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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