Bicircular light tuning of magnetic symmetry and topology in Dirac semimetal Cd3As2
Date
2022-02-08
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Iowa State University Digital Repository, Ames IA (United States)
Abstract
We show that bicircular light (BCL) is a versatile way to control magnetic symmetries and topology in
materials. The electric field of BCL, which is a superposition of two circularly polarized light waves with
frequencies that are integer multiples of each other, traces out a rose pattern in the polarization plane that
can be chosen to break selective symmetries, including spatial inversion. Using a realistic low-energy
model, we theoretically demonstrate that the three-dimensional Dirac semimetal Cd3As2 is a promising
platform for BCL Floquet engineering. Without strain, BCL irradiation induces a transition to a
noncentrosymmetric magnetic Weyl semimetal phase with tunable energy separation between the Weyl
nodes. In the presence of strain, we predict the emergence of a magnetic topological crystalline insulator
with exotic unpinned surface Dirac states that are protected by a combination of twofold rotation and time
reversal ð20Þ and can be controlled by light.
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IS-J 10713
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This article is published as Trevisan, Thaís V., Pablo Villar Arribi, Olle Heinonen, Robert-Jan Slager, and Peter P. Orth. "Bicircular light tuning of magnetic symmetry and topology in Dirac semimetal Cd3As2." Physical Review Letters 128, no. 6 (2022): 066602.
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.066602.
Copyright 2022 American Physical Society.
Posted with permission.
DOE Contract Number(s): AC02-07CH11358; 842901; AC02-06CH11357