Switchable magnetic bulk photovoltaic effect in the two-dimensional magnet CrI3
Research output: Contribution to journal › Research article › Contributed › peer-review
Contributors
Abstract
The bulk photovoltaic effect (BPVE) rectifies light into the dc current in a single-phase material and attracts the interest to design high-efficiency solar cells beyond the pn junction paradigm. Because it is a hot electron effect, the BPVE surpasses the thermodynamic Shockley–Queisser limit to generate above-band-gap photovoltage. While the guiding principle for BPVE materials is to break the crystal centrosymmetry, here we propose a magnetic photogalvanic effect (MPGE) that introduces the magnetism as a key ingredient and induces a giant BPVE. The MPGE emerges from the magnetism-induced asymmetry of the carrier velocity in the band structure. We demonstrate the MPGE in a layered magnetic insulator CrI3, with much larger photoconductivity than any previously reported results. The photocurrent can be reversed and switched by controllable magnetic transitions. Our work paves a pathway to search for magnetic photovoltaic materials and to design switchable devices combining magnetic, electronic, and optical functionalities.
Details
Original language | English |
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Article number | 3783 |
Journal | Nature communications |
Volume | 10 |
Publication status | Published - 22 Aug 2019 |
Peer-reviewed | Yes |
External IDs
PubMed | 31439851 |
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