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

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 tx,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 σxy = Ce²/, 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.