# Robustness of topologically sensitive harmonic generation in laser-driven linear chains

## TL;DR

This study investigates the robustness of topologically sensitive harmonic generation in laser-driven linear chains, examining factors like chain size, phase transition, and disorder, and finds high stability of key spectral features across these variables.

## Contribution

It demonstrates the robustness of topological effects in harmonic generation against size, phase transition, and disorder in linear chains.

## Key findings

- Degeneracy of edge states remains robust under various conditions.
- Destructive interference causing spectral dips is stable across parameters.
- Topological effects in harmonic spectra are highly resilient.

## Abstract

A huge difference in the harmonic yield from the two topological phases of finite, dimerizing linear chains in laser fields has recently been observed in all-electron time-dependent density functional simulations [D. Bauer, K.K. Hansen, Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 177401 (2018)]. In this work, we explore the robustness of the effect concerning the size of the chains, a continuous transition between the two topological phases, and disorder. A high robustness of both the degeneracy of the edge states in the topologically non-trivial phase and of the pronounced destructive interference causing a dip in the harmonic spectra in the topologically trivial phase is observed.