Circular-polarization-selective perfect reflection from chiral superconductors

Area of Science:

• Condensed Matter Physics
• Quantum Optics
• Materials Science

Background:

• Chiral optical cavities are essential for studying time-reversal-asymmetric light-matter interactions.
• Current designs often require integrating magnetic components with mirrors.
• Chiral superconductors offer a potential route to intrinsic time-reversal symmetry breaking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce novel single-crystal circular-polarization-selective mirrors based on chiral superconductors.
• To demonstrate the feasibility of achieving circular-polarization-selective perfect reflection (CSPR) in chiral superconductors.
• To explore methods for enhancing optical Hall conductivity in these materials.

Main Methods:

• Theoretical investigation of optical properties of chiral superconductors.
• Analysis of conditions for significant optical Hall conductivity.
• Modeling of CSPR in specific chiral superconductor systems.

Main Results:

• Chiral superconductors can function as intrinsic circular-polarization-selective mirrors.
• Significant optical Hall conductivity, leading to CSPR, is achievable under specific conditions (BCS-BEC crossover or beyond, significant optical Hall conductivity).
• Demonstrated CSPR in doped quantum Hall insulators and chiral superconductors with preserved Bogoliubov Fermi surfaces.

Conclusions:

• Chiral superconductors are promising for creating high-quality-factor terahertz chiral cavities.
• The proposed mirrors eliminate the need for external magnetic components.
• The findings have implications for understanding and engineering light-matter interactions in novel superconducting systems.