Intense-Laser Nondipole-Induced Symmetry Breaking in Solids

TL;DR

This paper explores how including nondipole effects in high-harmonic generation simulations in solids reveals symmetry-breaking phenomena, such as induced helicity, which depend on the material's topological phase.

Contribution

It introduces nondipole terms into HHG simulations in solids, uncovering symmetry-breaking effects and helicity generation linked to topological phases.

Findings

Nondipole effects break dipole selection rules.

Helicity is induced by nondipole terms.

Helicity depends on the topological phase.

Abstract

High-harmonic spectroscopy in solids gives insight into the inner workings of solids, such as reconstructing band structures or probing the topological phase of materials. High-harmonic generation (HHG) is a highly non-linear phenomena and simulations guide interpretation of experimental results. These simulations often rely on the electric dipole approximation, even though the driving fields enter regimes that challenge its accuracy. Here, we investigate effects of including nondipole terms in the light-matter coupling in simulations of HHG in materials with both topologically trivial and non-trivial phases. We show how the inclusion of nondipole terms breaks dipole selection rules, allowing for new polarizations of the generated light. Specifically we find that helicity, completely absent in the dipole approximation, is induced by the nondipole extension, and that this helicity is dependent on the topological phase of the material.