Magneto-gyrotropic photogalvanic effects due to inter-subband absorption in quantum wells

Abstract

We report on the observation of the magneto-photogalvanic effect (MPGE) due to inter-subband transitions in (001)-oriented GaAs quantum wells. This effect is related to the gyrotropic properties of the structures. It is shown that inter-subband absorption of linearly polarized radiation may lead to spin-related as well as spin-independent photocurrents if an external magnetic field is applied in the plane of the quantum well. The experimental results are analysed in terms of the phenomenological theory and microscopic models of MPGE based on either asymmetric optical excitation or asymmetric relaxation of carriers in k-space. We observed resonant photocurrents not only at oblique incidence of radiation but also at normal incidence, demonstrating that conventionally applied selection rules for the inter-subband optical transitions are not rigorous.