Adiabaticity parameters for the categorization of light-matter interaction: From weak to strong driving

Abstract

We investigate theoretically and numerically the light-matter interaction in a two-band system (TBS) as a model system for excitation in a solid-state band structure. We identify five clearly distinct excitation regimes, categorized with well-known adiabaticity parameters: (1) the perturbative multiphoton absorption regime for small driving field strengths, and four light-field-driven regimes, where intraband motion becomes important (2) the impulsive Landau-Zener (LZ) regime, (3) the nonimpulsive LZ regime, (4) the adiabatic regime, and (5) the adiabatic-impulsive regime for large electric field strengths. This categorization is tremendously helpful to understand the highly complex excitation dynamics in solids, in particular, when the driving field strength varies, and this categorization naturally connects Rabi physics with Landau-Zener physics. In addition, we find an insightful analytical expression for the photon orders connecting the perturbative multiphoton regime with the light-field-driven regimes. Moreover, in the adiabatic-impulsive regime, adiabatic motion and impulsive LZ transitions are equally important, leading to a broken symmetry of the TBS and a residual current when applying few-cycle laser pulses of broken temporal symmetry. This categorization allows a deep understanding of strong-field excitation in solids, including current and high-harmonic generation in a large variety of settings, and will help to find optimal driving parameters for a given purpose.