  Generating and controlling spin current (SC) are of central interest in spin
physics and applications. To date, the spin-orbit interaction (SOI) is an
established pathway to generate SC through the spin-charge current conversion.
We predict an efficient spin-light conversion via the Rashba and higher-order
cubic Dresselhaus SOIs in ferroelectrics. Different from the known Edelstein
effect, where SC is created by the nonequilibrium spin density, our predicted
spin-polarized current is from direct interactions between light and unique
spin textures generated by SOI in ferroelectrics. Using first-principles
simulations, we demonstrate these concepts by calculating the DC spin
photocurrent in a prototypical Rashba ferroelectric, {\alpha}-GeTe. The
photo-induced SC is about two orders of magnitude larger than the charge
photocurrent. More importantly, we can conveniently switch the direction of SC
by an applied electric field via inverting the spin textures. These predictions
give hope to generating and controlling light-driven SC via nonvolatile
electric-field.
