Strong light-matter interaction in systems described by a modified Dirac equation

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that non-trivial phases of materials described by a modified Dirac equation exhibit significantly enhanced light-matter interactions, resulting in much higher optical conductivity than graphene, with potential implications for optoelectronic applications.

Contribution

It reveals the existence of strong light-matter interaction in non-trivial phases of modified Dirac systems, a novel insight into their optical properties.

Findings

Optical conductivity exceeds that of graphene by at least an order of magnitude.

Strong light-matter interaction is specific to the non-trivial phase.

Potential for enhanced optoelectronic device performance.

Abstract

The bulk states of some materials, such as topological insulators, are described by a modified Dirac equation. Such systems may have trivial and non-trivial phases. In this paper, we show that in the non-trivial phase a strong light-matter interaction exists in a two-dimensional system, which leads to an optical conductivity at least one order of magnitude larger than that of graphene.