Unconventional p-wave magnets as sources of nonlinear photocurrents

We introduce a novel application for the recently catalogued unconventional p-wave magnets as generators of nonlinear optical currents. The noncollinear spin configuration breaks the inversion symmetry of the crystal and acts as the primary driver of nonlinear photogalvanic effects such as the so-called shift current. Besides elucidating the microscopic origin of the process in a minimal model, we present a concrete material realization of this effect in the noncollinear magnet Mn₅Si₃. This material features the two possible classes of unconventional p-wave magnetism in the form of two competing spin structures proposed in existing literature. Based on their markedly distinct symmetries and guided by ab-initio calculations, we argue that a measure of their photocurrent response can help discern the underlying spin configuration.