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    Quantum geometry-driven photogalvanic responses in semi-Dirac systems

    Bristi Ghosh1,*, Malay Bandyopadhyay1,†, and Snehasish Nandy2,‡

    • *Contact author: a21ph09025@iitbbs.ac.in
    • †Contact author: malay@iitbbs.ac.in
    • ‡Contact author: snehasish@phy.nits.ac.in

    Phys. Rev. B 114, 105113 – Published 12 August, 2026

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/jm68-sx23

    Abstract

    The photogalvanic effect (PGE), a fundamental nonlinear optical phenomenon in noncentrosymmetric materials, generates direct photocurrent under polarized light. Using quantum kinetic theory within the relaxation-time approximation, we theoretically investigate the PGE as a probe of quantum geometry in anisotropic type-I and type-II semi-Dirac (SD) systems, characterized by distinct electronic structures. We systematically analyze various microscopic contributions to the PGE conductivity, including injection, shift, resonance, higher-order pole, and anomalous terms, and emphasize their connections to different quantum geometric quantities, namely Berry curvature, quantum metric, and metric connection. By studying the frequency and chemical-potential dependence of the PGE conductivity in SD systems, we find that the optical conductivities in the type-II case are significantly enhanced relative to those in type I. For the circular PGE (CPGE), Berry-curvature-driven contributions remain qualitatively similar in both phases, whereas the linear PGE (LPGE) displays clear qualitative differences. In particular, the xxx component of the shift conductivity in the type-II phase reverses sign upon tuning the perturbation parameter δ, providing a direct signature of the Lifshitz transition. In contrast, other components remain sign invariant, as in type-I SD systems. These combined CPGE and LPGE signatures provide an unambiguous distinction between the two SD phases. The predicted effects, realizable in TiO2/VO2 heterostructures, establish PGE as a sensitive probe of quantum geometry with potential applications in polarization-selective photodetection, optical rectification, and next-generation optoelectronic devices.

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