Engineering Floquet topological phases using elliptically polarized light

Abstract

We study a two-dimensional topological system driven out of equilibrium by the application of elliptically polarized light. In particular, we analyze the Bernevig-Hughes-Zhang model when it is perturbed using an elliptically polarized light of frequency $Ω$ described in general by a vector potential ${\bf A}(t) = (A_{0x} \cos(Ωt), A_{0y} \cos(Ωt + ϕ_0))$. (Linear and circular polarizations can be obtained as special cases of this general form by appropriately choosing $A_{0x}$, $A_{0y}$, and $ϕ_0$). Even for a fixed value of $ϕ_0$, we can change the topological character of the system by changing the ratio of the $x$ and $y$ components of the drive. We therefore find a rich topological phase diagram as a function of $A_{0x}$, $A_{0y}$ and $ϕ_0$. In each of these phases, the topological invariant given by the Chern number is consistent with the number of spin-polarized states present at the edges of a nanoribbon.