Exploring light-induced phases of 2D materials in a modulated 1D quasicrystal

Illuminating integer quantum Hall matter with polarized light can drive quantum phase transitions, but technical limitations on laser intensity make such experiments challenging in the solid state. However, the mapping between a two-dimensional integer quantum Hall system and a 1D quasicrystal enables the same polarization-dependent light-induced phase transitions to be observed using a quantum gas in a driven quasiperiodic optical lattice. We report experimental and theoretical results from such a 1D quantum simulator of 2D integer quantum Hall matter driven by light of variable polarization. We observe an interlaced phase diagram of localization-delocalization phase transitions as a function of drive polarization and amplitude. Elliptically polarized driving can stabilize an extended critical phase featuring multifractal wavefunctions; we observe signatures of this phenomenon in subdiffusive transport. In this regime, increasing the strength of the quasiperiodic potential can enhance rather than suppress transport. These experiments demonstrate a simple method for synthesizing exotic multifractal states, exploring light-induced quantum phases across different dimensionalities, and generating spatially nonhomogeneous tunneling.