Tunable phase transitions from semimetals to Chern insulators in two-dimensional quadratic-band-crossing materials

Abstract

We systematically investigate how static symmetry-breaking perturbations and dynamic Floquet terms via a polarized light manipulate the topological phase transitions in the two-dimensional quadratic-band-crossing-point (QBCP) materials. The Berry curvature shows distinct behavior in such two situations. It is linearly and quadratically proportional to the product of microstructural parameters $t_{x,z}$ for the former and the latter, respectively. The static perturbation eliminates the QBCP and opens an energy gap, which leads to the momentum-inversion symmetry of Berry curvature. This yields a nontrivial Chern number determined by the microstructural parameters. In contrast, we demonstrate that either a circularly or an elliptically polarized light breaks the time-reversal symmetry, transforming the QBCP semimetal into a Chern insulator with a quantized anomalous Hall conductivity $\sigma_{xy} = Ce^2/\hbar$, where the Chern number is governed by the polarization angle. Moreover, the linear polarization preserves the central antisymmetry of the Berry curvature, giving rise to a topological trivial insulator. These results establish a tunable topological phase transition from a QBCP semimetal to Chern insulator in the two-dimensional QBCP materials.