Terahertz nonlinear optical response from transition metal monopnictide Weyl semimetal TaAs

ORAL

Abstract

Weyl semimetals are a newly discovered class of materials whose low-energy excitations are massless chiral fermions known as Weyl fermions. It has recently been shown that the transition metal monopnictide (TMMP) family of Weyl semimetals has a giant anisotropic nonlinear optical response, [arXiv:1609.04894] as revealed by optical second harmonic generation. We report here the nonlinear response of the TMMP TaAs through optical rectification of amplified femtosecond laser radiation, a phenomenon related to photogalvanic and nonlinear Hall effects. The emitted rectified radiation is in the Terahertz energy range of around 4 meV and allows us to study electron dynamics close to the Fermi surface.

Authors

  • Shreyas Patankar

    University of California, Berkeley

  • Liang Wu

    University of California, Berkeley, Univ of California - Berkeley

  • Arielle Little

    University of California, Berkeley, Univ of California - Berkeley

  • Eric Thewalt

    University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

  • Dylan Rees

    University of California, Berkeley

  • Nityan Nair

    University of California, Berkeley

  • James Analytis

    University of California, Berkeley, Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, UC Berkeley

  • Joseph Orenstein

    University of California, Berkeley