• 文献标题:   Polar Kerr Effect and Time Reversal Symmetry Breaking in Bilayer Graphene
  • 文献类型:   Article
  • 作  者:   NANDKISHORE R, LEVITOV L
  • 作者关键词:  
  • 出版物名称:   PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS
  • ISSN:   0031-9007 EI 1079-7114
  • 通讯作者地址:   MIT
  • 被引频次:   35
  • DOI:   10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.097402
  • 出版年:   2011

▎ 摘  要

The unique sensitivity of optical response to different types of symmetry breaking can be used to detect and identify spontaneously ordered many-body states in bilayer graphene. We predict a strong response at optical frequencies, sensitive to electronic phenomena at low energies, which arises because of nonzero interband matrix elements of the electric current operator. In particular, the polar Kerr rotation and reflection anisotropy provide fingerprints of the quantum anomalous Hall state and the nematic state, characterized by spontaneously broken time-reversal symmetry and lattice rotation symmetry, respectively. These optical signatures, which undergo a resonant enhancement in the near-infrared regime, lie well within reach of existing experimental techniques.