Year: 2016
Type: article
Abstract: Topological photonic states, inspired by robust chiral edge states in topological insulators, have recently been demonstrated in a few photonic systems, including an array of coupled on-chip ring resonators at communication wavelengths. However, the intrinsic difference between electrons and photons determines that the 'topological protection' in time-reversal-invariant photonic systems does not share the same robustness as its counterpart in electronic topological insulators. Here in a designer surface plasmon platform consisting of tunable metallic sub-wavelength structures, we construct photonic topological edge states and probe their robustness against a variety of defect classes, including some common time-reversal-invariant photonic defects that can break the topological protection, but do not exist in electronic topological insulators. This is also an experimental realization of anomalous Floquet topological edge states, whose topological phase cannot be predicted by the usual Chern number topological invariants.
Source: Nature Communications
DOI: 10.1038/ncomms11619
Language: English
Subfield: Condensed Matter Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $6,990
Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, National Research Foundation, National Research Foundation Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Ministry of Education, India, Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, Harvard University, Solid-State Solar Thermal Energy Conversion, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University, Division of Materials Research, Army Research Office, Army Research Laboratory
Awards: G1536739428, G1860077899, G29355420, G3076290787, G318041215, G3202401936, Collaborative Research: Quantifying the Emplacement of Channeled Flow Using Experimental, Analytical and Numerical Analyses, G3429140574, G3491862500, G357807552, G3732666562, G391170236, G437536353, G5002584136, G5259331294, NEW: SOLID-STATE SOLAR-THERMAL ENERGY CONVERSION CENTER (S3TEC CENTER) -- EFRC; PI - GANG CHEN, G6139144425, G6209202761, G6274897657, G7452299184, MIT Materials Research Science and Engineering Center - Full Proposal, G8727049869, G8976165560
OpenAlex ID: W2487910895