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Mitra S, Jiménez-Galán Á, Aulich M, Neuhaus M, Silva REF, Pervak V, Kling MF, Biswas S. Light-wave-controlled Haldane model in monolayer hexagonal boron nitride. Nature 2024; 628:752-757. [PMID: 38622268 PMCID: PMC11041748 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07244-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2023] [Accepted: 02/27/2024] [Indexed: 04/17/2024]
Abstract
In recent years, the stacking and twisting of atom-thin structures with matching crystal symmetry has provided a unique way to create new superlattice structures in which new properties emerge1,2. In parallel, control over the temporal characteristics of strong light fields has allowed researchers to manipulate coherent electron transport in such atom-thin structures on sublaser-cycle timescales3,4. Here we demonstrate a tailored light-wave-driven analogue to twisted layer stacking. Tailoring the spatial symmetry of the light waveform to that of the lattice of a hexagonal boron nitride monolayer and then twisting this waveform result in optical control of time-reversal symmetry breaking5 and the realization of the topological Haldane model6 in a laser-dressed two-dimensional insulating crystal. Further, the parameters of the effective Haldane-type Hamiltonian can be controlled by rotating the light waveform, thus enabling ultrafast switching between band structure configurations and allowing unprecedented control over the magnitude, location and curvature of the bandgap. This results in an asymmetric population between complementary quantum valleys that leads to a measurable valley Hall current7, which can be detected by optical harmonic polarimetry. The universality and robustness of our scheme paves the way to valley-selective bandgap engineering on the fly and unlocks the possibility of creating few-femtosecond switches with quantum degrees of freedom.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sambit Mitra
- Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, Garching, Germany
- Physics Department, Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich, Garching, Germany
| | - Álvaro Jiménez-Galán
- Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid (ICMM), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Madrid, Spain.
- Max Born Institute, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Mario Aulich
- Physics Department, Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich, Garching, Germany
- SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA, USA
| | - Marcel Neuhaus
- Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, Garching, Germany
- Physics Department, Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich, Garching, Germany
- SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA, USA
| | - Rui E F Silva
- Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid (ICMM), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Madrid, Spain
| | - Volodymyr Pervak
- Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, Garching, Germany
- Physics Department, Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich, Garching, Germany
| | - Matthias F Kling
- Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, Garching, Germany
- Physics Department, Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich, Garching, Germany
- SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA, USA
- Department of Applied Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Shubhadeep Biswas
- Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, Garching, Germany.
- Physics Department, Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich, Garching, Germany.
- SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA, USA.
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