Aharonov–Bohm effect induced by circularly polarized light

We demonstrated theoretically that the strong electron interaction with circularly polarized photons in ring-like nanostructures changes the phase of electron wave. This optically-induced effect is caused by the breaking of time-reversal symmetry and is similar to the Aharonov–Bohm effect. As a consequence of this phenomenon, the conductance of mesoscopic rings irradiated by a circularly polarized electromagnetic wave behaves as an oscillating function of the intensity and frequency of the wave.