Optical injection and terahertz detection of the macroscopic Berry curvature

We propose an experimental scheme to probe the Berry curvature of solids. Our method is sensitive to arbitrary regions of the Brillouin zone and employs only basic optical and terahertz techniques to yield a background-free signal. Using semiconductor quantum wells as a prototypical system, we discu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2011-09, Vol.107 (12), p.120403-120403, Article 120403
Main Authors: Virk, Kuljit S, Sipe, J E
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:We propose an experimental scheme to probe the Berry curvature of solids. Our method is sensitive to arbitrary regions of the Brillouin zone and employs only basic optical and terahertz techniques to yield a background-free signal. Using semiconductor quantum wells as a prototypical system, we discuss how to inject Berry curvature macroscopically and probe it in a way that provides information about the underlying microscopic Berry curvature.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/physrevlett.107.120403