- Letter
Ternary current plateaus in honeycomb monolayers via optical polarization control
Phys. Rev. B 113, L121412 – Published 26 March, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/fl3t-7v1x
Abstract
Elements exhibiting three stable current plateaus enable ternary logic, reducing interconnect load, and simplifying decision-making compared to binary logic. We show that a single off-resonant, linearly polarized optical drive can produce such plateaus in honeycomb monolayers, with the polarization angle controlling the band gap and electronic transport. In the high-frequency regime, we derive an effective Floquet Hamiltonian in which the hopping amplitudes are renormalized by angle-dependent Bessel functions. The response is -periodic: generic orientations reduce the point-group symmetry, whereas mirror-aligned angles restore symmetry and pin the extrema of the band gap. Quantum transport calculations for a finite armchair-terminated silicene nanoribbon reveal a polarization-controlled crossover from evanescent to resonant transport. The drive amplitude sets the overall gap scale, while redistributes spectral weight and mode overlap. These effects together yield three robust current plateaus, each persisting over a wide range of and tolerating variations in . This mechanism applies across honeycomb monolayers, providing design rules for light-controlled multivalued electronics.