Dynamical time-reversal symmetry breaking and photo-induced chiral spin liquids in frustrated Mott insulators

Nature Communications
Martin ClaassenThomas P Devereaux

Abstract

The search for quantum spin liquids in frustrated quantum magnets recently has enjoyed a surge of interest, with various candidate materials under intense scrutiny. However, an experimental confirmation of a gapped topological spin liquid remains an open question. Here, we show that circularly polarized light can provide a knob to drive frustrated Mott insulators into a chiral spin liquid, realizing an elusive quantum spin liquid with topological order. We find that the dynamics of a driven Kagome Mott insulator is well-captured by an effective Floquet spin model, with heating strongly suppressed, inducing a scalar spin chirality S i · (S j  × S k ) term which dynamically breaks time-reversal while preserving SU(2) spin symmetry. We fingerprint the transient phase diagram and find a stable photo-induced chiral spin liquid near the equilibrium state. The results presented suggest employing dynamical symmetry breaking to engineer quantum spin liquids and access elusive phase transitions that are not readily accessible in equilibrium.

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Citations

Sep 14, 2019·Journal of Physics. Condensed Matter : an Institute of Physics Journal·Wojciech Brzezicki
Dec 6, 2019·Nature Communications·Philipp WernerGil Refael
Oct 28, 2018·Nature Communications·Gabriel E ToppMichael A Sentef
Nov 8, 2019·Physical Review Letters·Gabriel FerrazRodrigo G Pereira
Apr 26, 2018·Physical Review Letters·D M KennesA J Millis
Sep 22, 2018·Physical Review Letters·Jianpeng LiuLeon Balents
Jul 26, 2019·Journal of Physics. Condensed Matter : an Institute of Physics Journal·V E ValiulinA F Barabanov
Nov 6, 2018·Nature Communications·Jiajun LiMartin Eckstein
May 30, 2020·Physical Review Letters·K S C DeckerD M Kennes
Oct 27, 2017·Nature Materials·D N BasovD Hsieh
Sep 17, 2019·Physical Review Letters·Pieter W ClaeysAnatoli Polkovnikov
Dec 5, 2020·Physical Review Letters·Jiajun Li, Martin Eckstein
Feb 5, 2021·Scientific Reports·Boyuan ZhangKen-Ichi Hino
May 15, 2021·Physical Review Letters·V L Quito, R Flint
Jul 10, 2021·Physical Review Letters·Francesco PetiziolFlorian Mintert

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