ÖPG-CMD Joint Meeting 2026

Nonlinear Optical Measurement of the Local Berry Curvature in an atomically thin semiconductor

Sep 25, 2026, 11:15 AM

15m

HS 15.05 (University of Graz)

3) Contributed talk M15 - Light-wave driven dynamics in quantum materials Mini-Colloquium

Speaker

Nele Tornow (Institute of Solid State Physics, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany)

Description

With its direct relation to many exotic transport phenomena, quantum geometry is a fundamental concept in solid state physics. However, measurements of the local quantum geometry, e.g., Berry curvature, has been possible to date only via angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy [1]. On the other hand, in one of our recent theoretical works [2] we have shown that there is a link between linear circular dichroism and derivatives of Berry curvature in 3D crystals with preserved time-reversal symmetry (TRS). In this presentation I will further demonstrate both, experimentally and with analytical solutions of semiconductor Bloch equations, that in a 2D semiconductor with broken TRS, the emerging second-harmonic circular dichroism can be used as a direct probe of the Berry curvature at the opposite K valleys in an atomically thin semiconductor, providing a new all-optical approach to access the local quantum geometry in 2D materials [3].

[1] Schüler, M. et al., Sci. Adv. 6, eaay2730 (2020)
[2] Soavi, G. and Wilhelm, J., arXiv:2501.03684 (2025)
[3] Tornow, N. et al. arXiv:2604.13729 (2026)