Optical Switching of Moir\'e Chern Ferromagnet

Abstract

Optical manipulation of quantum matter offers a non-contact, high-precision and fast control. Fractional Chern ferromagnet states in moir\'e superlattices are promising for topological quantum computing, but an effective optical control protocol has remained elusive. Here, we demonstrate robust optical switching of integer and fractional Chern ferromagnets in twisted MoTe2 bilayers using circularly polarized light. Highly efficient optical manipulation of spin orientations in the topological ferromagnet regime is realized at zero field using a pump light power as low as 28 nanowatts per square micrometer. Utilizing this optically induced transition, we also demonstrate magnetic bistate cycling and spatially resolved writing of ferromagnetic domain walls. This work establishes a reliable and efficient optical control scheme for moir\'e Chern ferromagnets, paving the way for dissipationless spintronics and quantized Chern junction devices.