Direct coupling of light to valley current.

ABSTRACT: The coupling of circularly polarized light to local band structure extrema ("valleys") in two dimensional semiconductors promises a new electronics based on the valley degree of freedom. Such pulses, however, couple only to valley charge and not to the valley current, precluding lightwave manipulation of this second vital element of valleytronic devices. Contradicting this established wisdom, we show that the few cycle limit of circularly polarized light is imbued with an emergent vectorial character that allows direct coupling to the valley current. The underlying physical mechanism involves the emergence of a momentum space valley dipole, the orientation and magnitude of which allows complete control over the direction and magnitude of the valley current. We demonstrate this effect via m

SUBMITTER: Sharma S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11365965 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature