Perspective: Floquet engineering topological states from effective models towards realistic materials

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent theoretical progress in Floquet engineering to create and manipulate topological states in realistic materials using periodic driving, highlighting potential experimental realizations.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of how Floquet engineering can induce various topological phases in realistic materials, bridging effective models and experimental feasibility.

Findings

Light irradiation can realize various topological states through symmetry breaking.

First-principles calculations identify candidate materials for Floquet topological states.

Floquet engineering enables control over topological properties like Chern numbers.

Abstract

With significant advances in classifying and cataloguing topological matter, the focus of topological physics has shifted towards quantum control, particularly the creation and manipulation of topological phases of matter. Floquet engineering, the concept of tailoring a system by periodic fields, offers a powerful tool to manipulate electronic properties of condensed systems, and even to create exotic non-equilibrium topological states that are impossibly present in equilibrium scenarios. In this perspective, we give a brief review of recent progress in theoretical investigations of Floquet engineering topological states from effective models towards realistic materials. We show that light irradiation can realize various desired topological states through the introduction of symmetry breaking, such as first- and higher-order Weyl fermions, quadrupole topological insulator with periodic driving and disorder, quantum anomalous Hall effects with a tunable Chern number, as well as beyond. Moreover, based on first-principles calculations and Floquet theorem, we show several realistic material candidates proposed as potential hosts for promising Floquet topological states, facilitating their verification in experiments. We believe that our perspective on Floquet engineering of topological states will advance further studies of rich exotic light-induced phenomena in condensed matter physics.