On the photon-drag effect of photocurrent of surface states of topological insulators

The photocurrent of surface states of topological insulator due to photon-drag effect is computed, being based on pure Dirac model of surface states. The scattering by disorder is taken into account to provide a relaxation mechanism for the photocurrent. The Keldysh–Schwinger formalism has been employed for the systematic calculation of photocurrent. The helicity dependent photocurrent of sizable magnitude transverse to the in-plane photon momentum is found, which is consistent with experimental data. Other helicity independent photocurrents with various polarization states are also calculated.