Spin-selective elliptic optical dichroism and perfectly spin-polarized third-order nonlinear photocurrent in altermagnets

Abstract

We show that the low-energy theory of a $d$-wave altermagnet is characterized by anisotropic Dirac cones with spin-split band structures based on a recently proposed tight-binding model. In this system, spin-selective perfect elliptic dichroism emerges, enabling exclusive excitation of either up-spin or down-spin electrons by tuning the ellipticity of the incident light. We further derive a formula for the third-order photocurrent generated under simultaneous application of elliptically polarized light and a static electric field, expressed in terms of the quantum metric and Berry curvature. Using this formula, we demonstrate that only an up-spin polarized current is induced. This third-order response constitutes the leading photocurrent, as second-order processes such as injection and shift currents are forbidden by the inversion symmetry inherent to altermagnets. They lead to the prediction that, in insulating $d$-wave altermagnets, a spin-polarized third-order photocurrent arises as the leading electric response when elliptically polarized light and a static electric field are applied simultaneously. These findings provide a foundation for future developments in photoinduced spintronics based on altermagnets.