We develop a six-band $\mathit{k}·\mathit{p}$ model to describe the electronic structure and optical response of chiral multifold semimetals, such as RhSi. By means of the invariants method we construct the effective Hamiltonian describing the states near the $\mathrm{\Gamma }$ point of the Brillouin zone where the spin-orbit coupling and $k$-linear Rashba terms, which are crucial for the circular photogalvanic effect, are taken into account. The model is parametrized using tight-binding calculations. We compute the interband absorption spectrum, showing a linear-in-frequency dependence at low energies and a resonant feature near the spin-orbit splitting energy. Furthermore, we calculate the circular photogalvanic effect. In agreement with previous works the current generation rate at low frequencies exhibits a quantized low-frequency response, governed by the universal value $\left|\mathcal{C}\right|=4$ for the effective topological charge. Our results provide an analytical framework for understanding the role of Rashba coupling and topology in the optoelectronic properties of multifold chiral semimetals.

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• Adsorption
• Electronic structure
• Photocurrent
• Rashba coupling
• Spin-orbit coupling
• Semimetals
• Weyl semimetal
• Tight-binding model
• k dot p method