Transport properties of non-equilibrium systems under the application of light: Photo-induced quantum Hall insulators without Landau levels

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how light can induce quantum Hall effects in materials like graphene and topological insulators without Landau levels, enabling control of transport properties in non-equilibrium conditions.

Contribution

It introduces a method to control quantum transport in materials using light, demonstrating photo-induced quantum Hall effects without magnetic fields and Landau levels.

Findings

Light induces topological transport properties in non-equilibrium systems.

Quantum Hall effects can be realized without Landau levels using off-resonant light.

Hall conductance approaches quantization under light application.

Abstract

In this paper, we study transport properties of non-equilibrium systems under the application of light in many-terminal measurements, using the Floquet picture. We propose and demonstrate that the quantum transport properties can be controlled in materials such as graphene and topological insulators, via the application of light. Remarkably, under the application of off-resonant light, topological transport properties can be induced; these systems exhibits quantum Hall effects in the absence of a magnetic field with a near quantization of the Hall conductance, realizing so-called quantum Hall systems without Landau levels first proposed by Haldane.