中国物理B ›› 2021, Vol. 30 ›› Issue (11): 110308-110308.doi: 10.1088/1674-1056/abff29

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Photoinduced Weyl semimetal phase and anomalous Hall effect in a three-dimensional topological insulator

Meng-Nan Chen(陈梦南)1,† and Wen-Chao Chen(陈文潮)2,‡   

  1. 1 School of Science, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou 310018, China;
    2 Institute of Advanced Magnetic Materials, College of Materials and Environmental Engineering, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou 310018, China
  • 收稿日期:2021-03-10 修回日期:2021-04-22 接受日期:2021-05-08 出版日期:2021-10-13 发布日期:2021-10-22
  • 通讯作者: Meng-Nan Chen, Wen-Chao Chen E-mail:mnchen@hdu.edu.cn;cwc@hdu.edu.cn
  • 基金资助:
    Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11804070) and Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. LQ19A040007).

Photoinduced Weyl semimetal phase and anomalous Hall effect in a three-dimensional topological insulator

Meng-Nan Chen(陈梦南)1,† and Wen-Chao Chen(陈文潮)2,‡   

  1. 1 School of Science, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou 310018, China;
    2 Institute of Advanced Magnetic Materials, College of Materials and Environmental Engineering, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou 310018, China
  • Received:2021-03-10 Revised:2021-04-22 Accepted:2021-05-08 Online:2021-10-13 Published:2021-10-22
  • Contact: Meng-Nan Chen, Wen-Chao Chen E-mail:mnchen@hdu.edu.cn;cwc@hdu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11804070) and Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. LQ19A040007).

摘要: Motivated by the fact that Weyl fermions can emerge in a three-dimensional topological insulator on breaking either time-reversal or inversion symmetries, we propose that a topological quantum phase transition to a Weyl semimetal phase occurs under the off-resonant circularly polarized light, in a three-dimensional topological insulator, when the intensity of the incident light exceeds a critical value. The circularly polarized light effectively generates a Zeeman exchange field and a renormalized Dirac mass, which are highly controllable. The phase transition can be exactly characterized by the first Chern number. A tunable anomalous Hall conductivity emerges, which is fully determined by the location of the Weyl nodes in momentum space, even in the doping regime. Our predictions are experimentally realizable through pump-probe angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and raise a new way for realizing Weyl semimetals and quantum anomalous Hall effects.

关键词: Floquet theory, Weyl semimetal, topological phase transition, Hall conductivity

Abstract: Motivated by the fact that Weyl fermions can emerge in a three-dimensional topological insulator on breaking either time-reversal or inversion symmetries, we propose that a topological quantum phase transition to a Weyl semimetal phase occurs under the off-resonant circularly polarized light, in a three-dimensional topological insulator, when the intensity of the incident light exceeds a critical value. The circularly polarized light effectively generates a Zeeman exchange field and a renormalized Dirac mass, which are highly controllable. The phase transition can be exactly characterized by the first Chern number. A tunable anomalous Hall conductivity emerges, which is fully determined by the location of the Weyl nodes in momentum space, even in the doping regime. Our predictions are experimentally realizable through pump-probe angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and raise a new way for realizing Weyl semimetals and quantum anomalous Hall effects.

Key words: Floquet theory, Weyl semimetal, topological phase transition, Hall conductivity

中图分类号:  (Quantum transport)

  • 05.60.Gg
03.65.Vf (Phases: geometric; dynamic or topological) 31.10.+z (Theory of electronic structure, electronic transitions, and chemical binding) 73.20.Mf (Collective excitations (including excitons, polarons, plasmons and other charge-density excitations))