Symmetry-Selective Shift Current in Polar Multidomain Superlattices

Abstract

Periodic polar multidomain superlattices can act as symmetry-selective elements for shift-current generation. We demonstrate this using a two-dimensional Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model with prescribed multidomain configurations. The distinct full-supercell symmetries of periodic head-to-head and head-to-tail arrangements impose different constraints on the shift-current tensor and thereby select complementary nonlinear-response channels, as confirmed by numerical calculations. A direct comparison with equal-area averages of the constituent single-domain spectra shows that an independent-domain average does not reproduce the detailed multidomain spectra. A bond-resolved contribution analysis further clarifies the real-space origin of the multidomain response. Widening each domain from one to ten primitive cells leaves the selection rules intact. On the photon-energy grid used here, the allowed head-to-tail response changes sign and grows by about an order of magnitude. These results provide a theoretical framework for the symmetry-based design of anisotropic optical rectification in polar multidomain superlattices.