Title

Excited quantum Hall effect: enantiomorphic flat bands in a Yin-Yang Kagome lattice

Speaker

Prof. Feng Liu

University of Utah, USA

Time

3：00pm, October 16, 2019

Place

Room 9004 at the HFNL building

Feng Liu, Professor of Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Adjunct professor, Department of Physics, University of Utah. He received his PhD in Chemical Physics from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1990. Prof. Liu is a fellow of American Physical Society and recipient of Senior Humboldt Award. His research interest lies in theoretical and computational studies of low-dimensional nano and quantum materials, with a most recent focus on topological materials. He is also a co-founder of two high-tech start-up companies.

Abstract

Quantum Hall effect (QHE) is one of the most fruitful research topics in condensed-matter physics. Ordinarily, the QHE manifests in a ground state with time-reversal symmetry broken by magnetization to carry a quantized chiral edge conductivity around a two-dimensional insulating bulk. We propose a theoretical concept and model of non-equilibrium excited-state QHE (EQHE) without intrinsic magnetization. It arises from circularly polarized photoexcitation between two enantiomorphic flat bands of opposite chirality, each supporting originally a helical topological insulating state hosted in a Yin-Yang Kagome lattice. The chirality of its edge state can be reversed by the handedness of light, instead of the direction of magnetization as in the conventional quantum (anomalous) Hall effect, offering a simple switching mechanism for quantum devices. Implications and realization of EQHE in real materials are discussed.