Creating stable Floquet-Weyl semimetals by laser-driving of 3D Dirac materials

Hübener, Hannes; Sentef, M. A.; de Giovannini, Umberto; Kemper, Alexander F.; Rubio, A.

doi:10.1038/ncomms13940

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Creating stable Floquet-Weyl semimetals by laser-driving of 3D Dirac materials

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Sentef, M. A.
Dipartimento di Fisica e Chimica, Università degli Studi di Palermo;
Theoretical Description of Pump-Probe Spectroscopies in Solids, Theory Department, Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Max Planck Society;

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Rubio, A.
Nano-Bio Spectroscopy Group and ETSF, Universidad del País Vasco, CFM CSIC-UPV/EHU, 20018 San Sebastián, Spain;
Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, 22761 Hamburg, Germany;
Theory Group, Theory Department, Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Max Planck Society;

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https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms13940
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https://arxiv.org/abs/1604.03399
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ncomms13940.pdf
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1604.03399.pdf
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Citation

Hübener, H., Sentef, M. A., de Giovannini, U., Kemper, A. F., & Rubio, A. (2017). Creating stable Floquet-Weyl semimetals by laser-driving of 3D Dirac materials. Nature Communications, 8: 13940. doi:10.1038/ncomms13940.

Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-002A-321F-E

Abstract

Tuning and stabilizing topological states, such as Weyl semimetals, Dirac semimetals or topological insulators, is emerging as one of the major topics in materials science. Periodic driving of many-body systems offers a platform to design Floquet states of matter with tunable electronic properties on ultrafast timescales. Here we show by first principles calculations how femtosecond laser pulses with circularly polarized light can be used to switch between Weyl semimetal, Dirac semimetal and topological insulator states in a prototypical three-dimensional (3D) Dirac material, Na3Bi. Our findings are general and apply to any 3D Dirac semimetal. We discuss the concept of time-dependent bands and steering of Floquet–Weyl points and demonstrate how light can enhance topological protection against lattice perturbations. This work has potential practical implications for the ultrafast switching of materials properties, such as optical band gaps or anomalous magnetoresistance.