Preprint

FZJ-2026-01884

http://join2-wiki.gsi.de/foswiki/pub/Main/Artwork/join2_logo100x88.png Subcycle videography of lightwave-driven Landau-Zener-Majorana transitions in graphene

Eggers, V. ; Inzani, G. ; Meierhofer, M. ; Münster, L. ; Helml, J. ; Wallauer, R. ; Zajusch, S. ; Ito, S. ; Machtl, L. ; Yin, H.FZJ* ; Kumpf, C.FZJ* ; Bocquet, F. C.FZJ* ; Bao, C. ; Güdde, J. ; Tautz, F. S.FZJ* ; Huber, R. ; Höfer, U. (Corresponding author)

2026
arXiv

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Please use a persistent id in citations: doi:10.48550/ARXIV.2602.12844

Abstract: Strong light fields have unlocked previously unthinkable possibilities to tailor coherent electron trajectories, engineer band structures and shape emergent phases of matter all-optically. Unravelling the underlying quantum mechanisms requires a visualisation of the lightwave-driven electron motion directly in the band structure. While photoelectron momentum microscopy has imaged optically excited electrons averaged over many cycles of light, actual subcycle band-structure videography has been limited to small electron momenta. Yet lightwave-driven elementary processes in quantum materials often occur throughout momentum space. Here, we introduce attosecond-precision, subcycle band-structure videography covering the entire first Brillouin zone (BZ) and visualize one of the most fundamental but notoriously elusive strong-field processes: non-adiabatic Landau-Zener-Majorana (LZM) tunnelling. The interplay of field-driven acceleration within the Dirac-like band structure of graphene and periodic LZM interband tunnelling manifest in a coherent displacement and distortion of the momentum distribution at the BZ edge. The extremely non-thermal electron distributions also allow us to disentangle competing scattering processes and assess their impact on coherent electronic control through electron redistribution and thermalization. Our panoramic view of strong-field-driven electron motion in quantum materials lays the foundation for a microscopic understanding of some of the most discussed light-driven phenomena in condensed matter physics.

Keyword(s): Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall) ; Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) ; Optics (physics.optics) ; FOS: Physical sciences

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Contributing Institute(s):

1. Quantum Nanoscience (PGI-3)

Research Program(s):

1. 5213 - Quantum Nanoscience (POF4-521) (POF4-521)
2. Orbital Cinema - Photoemission Orbital Cinematography: An ultrafast wave function lab (101071259) (101071259)

Appears in the scientific report 2026

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