Disentangling High Harmonic Generation from Surface and Bulk States of a Topological Insulator
Fuente:
arXiv
Guardado en:
| Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Formato: | Preprint |
| Publicado: |
2026
|
| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | |
| Etiquetas: |
Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
|
| _version_ | 1866918432493010944 |
|---|---|
| author | Li, Sha Zhou, Wenyi Imroz, Kazi A. Tang, Yaguo Townsend, Tiana A. Leshchenko, Vyacheslav Boie, Larissa Agostini, Pierre Landsman, Alexandra S. Kawakami, Roland K. Yue, Lun DiMauro, Louis F. |
| author_facet | Li, Sha Zhou, Wenyi Imroz, Kazi A. Tang, Yaguo Townsend, Tiana A. Leshchenko, Vyacheslav Boie, Larissa Agostini, Pierre Landsman, Alexandra S. Kawakami, Roland K. Yue, Lun DiMauro, Louis F. |
| contents | The discovery of topological phases has introduced a new dimension to materials science. Three-dimensional (3D) topological insulators (TIs) are a remarkable class of matter that is insulating in the bulk while hosting conductive topological surface states (TSSs) with unique charge and spin properties. High-order harmonic generation (HHG) has emerged as a powerful tool to probe condensed matter systems by providing insights into their electronic structure and dynamic behavior. Here, we investigate HHG in the prototype 3D-TI Bi$_2$Se$_3$. We demonstrate that the contributions of bulk and surface states to the harmonic emission can be controlled by tuning the thickness of thin film samples. An ultrathin (6 nm) film substantially enhances HHG from the surface states, while the bulk states dominate HHG in a thicker (50 nm) film. By applying a quasi-static terahertz perturbing field, we disentangle the bulk and surface responses and reveal the significant impact of the surface states' shift vector and Berry curvature on HHG. Our study provides effective methods for isolating the optical responses of TSSs from those of the bulk, which opens the door to resolving an ongoing debate regarding whether it is possible to reliably extract topological signatures in HHG. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_06051 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Disentangling High Harmonic Generation from Surface and Bulk States of a Topological Insulator Li, Sha Zhou, Wenyi Imroz, Kazi A. Tang, Yaguo Townsend, Tiana A. Leshchenko, Vyacheslav Boie, Larissa Agostini, Pierre Landsman, Alexandra S. Kawakami, Roland K. Yue, Lun DiMauro, Louis F. Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics Other Condensed Matter Atomic Physics Optics The discovery of topological phases has introduced a new dimension to materials science. Three-dimensional (3D) topological insulators (TIs) are a remarkable class of matter that is insulating in the bulk while hosting conductive topological surface states (TSSs) with unique charge and spin properties. High-order harmonic generation (HHG) has emerged as a powerful tool to probe condensed matter systems by providing insights into their electronic structure and dynamic behavior. Here, we investigate HHG in the prototype 3D-TI Bi$_2$Se$_3$. We demonstrate that the contributions of bulk and surface states to the harmonic emission can be controlled by tuning the thickness of thin film samples. An ultrathin (6 nm) film substantially enhances HHG from the surface states, while the bulk states dominate HHG in a thicker (50 nm) film. By applying a quasi-static terahertz perturbing field, we disentangle the bulk and surface responses and reveal the significant impact of the surface states' shift vector and Berry curvature on HHG. Our study provides effective methods for isolating the optical responses of TSSs from those of the bulk, which opens the door to resolving an ongoing debate regarding whether it is possible to reliably extract topological signatures in HHG. |
| title | Disentangling High Harmonic Generation from Surface and Bulk States of a Topological Insulator |
| topic | Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics Other Condensed Matter Atomic Physics Optics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.06051 |