Light-induced fractional quantum Hall appeared in PRL

Recently, we theoretically showed how to realize two-component fractional quantum Hall phases in monolayer graphene by optically driving the system. A laser is tuned into resonance between two Landau levels, giving rise to an effective tunneling between these two synthetic layers. Remarkably, because of this coupling, the interlayer interaction at non-zero relative angular momentum can become dominant, resembling a hollow-core pseudo-potential. In the weak tunneling regime, this interaction favors the formation of singlet states, as we explicitly show by numerical diagonalization, at fillings ν = 1/2 and ν = 2/3. We discuss possible candidate phases, including the Haldane-Rezayi phase, the interlayer Pfaffian phase, and a Fibonacci phase. This demonstrates that our method may pave the way towards the realization of non-Abelian phases, as well as the control of topological phase transitions, in graphene quantum Hall systems using optical fields and integrated photonic structures.

This work is published in Physical Review Letters, 119, 247403 (2017), and covered in this JQI News article.