Related papers: Terahertz control of surface topology probed with …
We report on an ultrafast terahertz free-carrier dynamic study of a photo-excited WTe2 thin film. In the photo-excited state, we observe a metastable electronic state featuring negative differential terahertz photoconductivity and reduced…
Microscopic and dynamic control over quantum states is essential for bridging fundamental studies of material properties to device function. Realizing such control at combined high spatial resolution and ultrafast temporal precision remains…
Topological materials ranging from topological insulators to semimetals host many novel quantum phenomena including quantum spin Hall effect and topological Fermi arcs. Transitions between these topological phases have attracted much…
Recent development of ultrashort laser pulses allows for optical control of structural and electronic properties of complex quantum materials. The layered transition metal dichalcogenide MoTe2, which can crystalize into several different…
We outline here how strong light-matter interaction can be used to induce quantum phase transition between normal and topological phases in two-dimensional topological insulators. We consider the case of a HgTe quantum well, in which band…
Ultrafast optical control of the structural and electronic properties of various quantum materials has recently sparked great interest. In particular, photoinduced quantum phase transition between distinct topological phases has been…
The recent discovery of topology-protected charge transport of ultimate thinness on surfaces of three-dimensional topological insulators (TIs) are breaking new ground in fundamental quantum science and transformative technology. Yet a…
Quantum topological materials, exemplified by topological insulators, three-dimensional Dirac semimetals and Weyl semimetals, have attracted much attention recently because of their unique electronic structure and physical properties. Very…
Fermi surface is at the heart of our understanding of metals and strongly correlated many-body systems. An abrupt change in the Fermi surface topology, also called Lifshitz transition, can lead to the emergence of fascinating phenomena like…
The layered material ZrSiTe is currently extensively investigated as a nodal-line semimetal with Dirac-like band crossings protected by nonsymmorphic symmetry close to the Fermi energy. A recent infrared spectroscopy study on ZrSiTe under…
Noncontacting and nondestructive control of geometric phase in conventional semiconductors plays a pivotal role in various applications. In the current work, we present a theoretical and computational investigation on terahertz (THz)…
Topological insulators (TIs) are an important family of quantum materials that exhibit a Dirac point (DP) in the surface band structure but have a finite band gap in bulk. A large degree of spin-orbit interaction and low bandgap is a…
Reversible control of the topological invariants from nontrivial to trivial states has fundamental implications for quantum information processors and spintronics, by realizing of an on/off switch for robust and dissipationless…
The tunability of materials properties by light promises a wealth of future applications in energy conversion and information technology. Strongly correlated materials such as transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) offer optical control…
Optical control of structural and electronic properties of Weyl semimetals allows development of switchable and dissipationless topological devices at the ultrafast scale. An unexpected orbitial-selective photoexcitation in type-II Weyl…
Manipulating the lattice structure of ferroelectric quantum materials enables their use in low-power electronic devices, including field-effect transistors. WTe$_2$ is a Weyl-semimetal candidate and ferroelectric, both properties arising…
We find a series of topological phase transitions in a half-metal/superconductor heterostructure, by tuning the direction of the magnetization of the half-metal film. These include transitions between a topological superconducting phase…
The selective excitation of coherent phonons provides unique capabilities to control fundamental properties of quantum materials on ultrafast time scales. For instance, in the presence of strong electron-phonon coupling, the electronic band…
The symmetry breaking induced by the ferroelectric transition often triggers the emergence of topological electronic states such as Weyl fermions in ferroelectric-like metals/semimetals. Such strong coupling between the lattice deformation…
Ultrafast photoexcitation offers a novel approach to manipulating quantum materials. One of the long-standing goals in this field is to achieve optical control over topological properties. However, the impact on their electronic structures,…