123 research outputs found
Light Driven Spontaneous Phonon Chirality and Magnetization in Paramagnets
Spin-phonon coupling enables the mutual manipulation of phonon and spin
degrees of freedom in solids. In this study, we reveal the inherent
nonlinearity within this coupling. Using a paramagnet as an illustration, we
demonstrate the nonlinearity by unveiling spontaneous symmetry breaking under a
periodic drive. The drive originates from linearly polarized light, respecting
a mirror reflection symmetry of the system. However, this symmetry is
spontaneously broken in the steady state, manifested in the emergence of
coherent chiral phonons accompanied by a nonzero magnetization. We establish an
analytical self-consistent equation to find the parameter regime where
spontaneous symmetry breaking occurs. Furthermore, we estimate realistic
parameters and discuss potential materials that could exhibit this behavior.
Our findings shed light on the exploration of nonlinear phenomena in magnetic
materials and present possibilities for on-demand control of magnetization.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Topological Corner States in Graphene by Bulk and Edge Engineering
Two-dimensional higher-order topology is usually studied in (nearly)
particle-hole symmetric models, so that an edge gap can be opened within the
bulk one. But more often deviates the edge anticrossing even into the bulk,
where corner states are difficult to pinpoint. We address this problem in a
graphene-based topological insulator with spin-orbit coupling
and in-plane magnetization both originating from substrates through a
Slater-Koster multi-orbital model. The gapless helical edge modes cross inside
the bulk, where is also located the magnetization-induced edge gap. After
demonstrating its second-order nontriviality in bulk topology by a series of
evidence, we show that a difference in bulk-edge onsite energy can
adiabatically tune the position of the crossing/anticrossing of the edge modes
to be inside the bulk gap. This can help unambiguously identify two pairs of
topological corner states with nonvanishing energy degeneracy for a rhombic
flake. We further find that the obtuse-angle pair is more stable than the
acute-angle one. These results not only suggest an accessible way to "find"
topological corner states, but also provide a higher-order topological version
of "bulk-boundary correspondence"
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