Optical control of electrons in a Floquet topological insulator
arXiv:2407.17917 · doi:10.1038/s41567-026-03429-7
Abstract
Light-dressed materials hold enormous potential for generating new electronic properties. The band structure resulting from light-dressing can exhibit starkly different quantum and topological phenomena. So far, optical control of charge within a light-dressed band structure has been elusive. Here, we demonstrate optical control of electrons in light-dressed graphene. By focusing circularly polarized femtosecond laser pulses at 1550 nm on monolayer graphene, we generate a Floquet topological insulator (FTI). With a phase-locked second harmonic field, we dynamically control electrons in this FTI state. For the first time, we observe photocurrent circular dichroism, the all-optical anomalous Hall effect, and FTI valley-polarized currents. The photocurrents show strong sub-cycle phase-sensitivity, opening the door to ultrafast control within topologically protected electronics (topotronics), spectroscopy, and attosecond physics in novel quantum materials.
arXiv comment27 pages, 14 figures
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