Bulk photospin effect

Abstract

We compute the electric spin susceptibility of Bloch electrons with spin-orbit coupling to second order. We find that it is possible to generate a nonequilibrium spin polarization in the bulk of non-magnetic inversion-symmetric materials using linearly polarized electric fields, but the process depends on interband coherence and produces heating. It may be possible to avoid heating with circular polarization in certain scenarios. The standard Edelstein effect and spin orientation effects are recovered in appropriate limits within the formalism. Finally, the electric spin susceptibility of metals has contributions proportional to spin multipole moments of the Fermi sea that dominate the low frequency spin response.