Topological phase transition and nonlinear anomalous Hall effects in strained gapped graphene under polarized light
Phys. Rev. B 114, 045403 – Published 6 July, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/1gn9-czrv
Abstract
We investigate the topological and nonlinear transport properties of uniaxially strained gapped graphene driven by polarized optical fields. We demonstrate that the interplay between optical polarization and lattice strain fundamentally reshapes the Berry curvature distribution, leading to a valley-dependent sign reversal of both the Chern number and the Berry curvature dipole (BCD). Specifically, circularly polarized light drives a valley-selective topological phase transition, which is explicitly manifested by the directional reversal of the nonlinear anomalous Hall current. Moreover, linearly polarized light breaks the residual mirror symmetry of the strained lattice, thereby activating a transverse BCD component that is strictly forbidden in the static limit. Our results uncover a valley-dependent photocontrol mechanism for topological order and Berry curvature distribution, paving the way for designing optovalleytronic devices based on light-matter interaction.
