Hidden order revealed by light-driven Kerr rotation in Centrosymmetric bulk WSe₂.

ABSTRACT: Single-layer semiconducting transition-metal dichalcogenides, lacking point inversion symmetry, provide an efficient platform for valleytronics, where the electronic, orbital, magnetic, valley, and lattice degrees of freedom can be selectively manipulated by using polarized light. This task is, however, thought to be impeded in parent bulk compounds where the point inversion symmetry is restored. Exploiting the underlying quantum physics in bulk materials is thus one of the biggest paradigmatic challenges. Here we show that a sizable optical Kerr rotation can be efficiently generated without breaking point-inversion symmetry in a wide energy range on ultrafast timescales in bulk WSe₂, by means of circularly-polarized light. We rationalize this finding as a result of the hidden s

SUBMITTER: Cappelluti E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12576942 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature