In this paper we examine the possibility of Floquet engineering in the three candidate Kitaev materials ${\mathrm{Na}}_2{\mathrm{IrO}}_3$, $\alpha \text{−}{\mathrm{Li}}_2{\mathrm{IrO}}_3$, and $\alpha \text{−}{\mathrm{RuCl}}_3$. We derive an effective Floquet Hamiltonian and give an approximation for heating processes arising from doublon holon propagation. This suggests that compounds with stronger Hund's rule coupling are less prone to heating. We then investigate the impact of light frequency and amplitude on magnetic interaction terms up to third nearest neighbor and find that third neighbor Heisenberg coupling $J_3$ is very susceptible to tuning by circularly polarized light. Finally, we discuss uses of linear polarized light in selectively tuning single bond directions.

• Received 29 October 2021
• Accepted 7 February 2022

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.105.085144