Circular photon drag effect in bulk tellurium

The circular photon drag effect is observed in a bulk semiconductor. The photocurrent caused by a transfer of both translational and angular momenta of light to charge carriers is detected in tellurium in the midinfrared frequency range. Dependencies of the photocurrent on the light polarization and on the incidence angle agree with the symmetry analysis of the circular photon drag effect. Microscopic models of the effect are developed for both intra- and intersubband optical absorption in the valence band of tellurium. The shift contribution to the circular photon drag current is calculated. An observed decrease of the circular photon drag current with the increase of the photon energy is explained by the theory for intersubband optical transitions. Theoretical estimates of the circular photon drag current agree with the experimental data.