Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Spin-orbit coupling and quantum geometry are fundamental aspects in modern condensed matter physics, with their primary manifestations in momentum space being spin textures and Berry curvature. In this work, we investigate their interplay with high-harmonic generation (HHG) in two-dimensional noncentrosymmetric materials, with an emphasis on even-order harmonics. Our analysis reveals that the emergence of finite even-order harmonics necessarily requires a broken twofold rotational symmetry in the spin texture, as well as a nontrivial Berry curvature in systems with time-reversal invariance. This symmetry breaking can arise across various degrees of freedom and impact both spin textures and optical response via spin-orbit interactions. We also show that HHG is particularly sensitive to dynamical rotational-symmetry breaking, as even high-order components can be modulated by a time-dependent symmetry breaking. These findings underscore the potential of HHG as a tool for exploring electronic phases with broken rotational symmetry, as well as the associated phase transitions in two-dimensional materials, and provide novel perspectives for designing symmetry-dependent nonlinear optical phenomena.
DOI: 10.1103/m4x3-fb5d
Authors: F. Gabriele, C. Ortix, M. Cuoco, F. Forte
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4415226935