Anisotropic Picosecond Spin-Photocurrent from Weyl Semimetal WTe₂.

Abstract

The generation and detection of ultrafast spin current, preferably reaching a frequency up to terahertz, is the core of spintronics. Studies have shown that the Weyl semimetal WTe₂ is of great potential in generating spin currents. However, the prior studies have been limited to the static measurements with the in-plane spin orientation. In this work, we demonstrate a picosecond spin-photocurrent in a Td-WTe₂ thin film via a terahertz time domain spectroscopy with a circularly polarized laser excitation. The anisotropic dependence of the circular photogalvanic effect (CPGE) in the terahertz emission reveals that the picosecond spin-photocurrent is generated along the rotational asymmetry <i>a</i>-axis. Notably, the generated spins are aligned along the out-of-plane direction under the light normally incident to the film surface, which provides an efficient means to manipulate magnetic devices with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. A spin-splitting band induced by intrinsic inversion symmetry breaking enables the manipulation of a spin current by modulating the helicity of the laser excitation. Moreover, CPGE nearly vanishes at a transition temperature of ∼175 K due to the carrier compensation. Our work provides an insight into the dynamic behavior of the anisotropic spin-photocurrent of Td-WTe₂ in terahertz frequencies and shows a great potential for the future development of terahertz-spintronic devices with Weyl semimetals.