Precise manipulation of quantum matter is a long-sought goal with wide-ranging applications in electronics and computing. A novel class of tunable quantum matter are laser-driven systems. Such systems exhibit controllable dynamic properties impossible to reproduce in equilibrium. A key characteristic of periodic, laser drives is drive-induced heating, which heavily modifies electronic dynamics out of equilibrium. In certain regimes, heating can destabilize electronic properties towards an infinite-temperature state. In this presentation, however, I will discuss a range of interesting material regimes that can leverage non-equilibrium dynamics to host novel, tunable electronic physics. One example1 is a twisted, 2D moire system under low-frequency, THz laser drives, which exhibits tunable topological electric current sensitively controlled by the laser amplitude. Another2 is a moire system irradiated by UV-visible frequency lasers, which emits a tunable photoluminence spectrum that sensitively probes the electronic physics. Lastly, I will discuss a new class of phonon-driven systems3 beyond conventional laser drives, which can induce strong, quantized electronic transport through quantum wires. I will discuss how heating can be averted in these systems and mention applications in fields such as electronics, detection, material characterization, metrology, and computing.
References:
1Yang, C., Esin, I., Lewandowski, C., and Refael, G., "Optical Control of Slow Topological Electrons in Moire Materials," Physical Review Letters 131, 026901 (2023).
2Yang, C., Esin, I., Lewandowski, C., and Refael, G., "Optically-Controlled Fluorescence in Moire Materials," preparation.
3Yang, C., Hunt, W., Refael, G., and Esin, I., "Quantized Acoustoelectric Floquet Effect in Quantum Nanowires," arXiv:2404.11647 (2024).