TY - JOUR

T1 - Experimental Realization of Multiple Topological Edge States in a 1D Photonic Lattice

AU - Zhang, Zhifeng

AU - Teimourpour, M .H.

AU - Arkinstall, Jake

AU - Pan, Mingsen

AU - Miao, Pei

AU - Schomerus, Henning Ulrich

AU - El-Ganainy, Ramy

AU - Feng, Liang

N1 - This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Z. Zhang, M. H. Teimourpour, J. Arkinstall, M. Pan, P. Miao, H. Schomerus, R. El‐Ganainy, L. Feng, Laser & Photonics Reviews 2019, 1800202. https://doi.org/10.1002/lpor.201800202 which has been published in final form at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/lpor.201800202 This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.

PY - 2019/2/1

Y1 - 2019/2/1

N2 - Topological photonic systems offer light transport that is robust against defects and disorder, promising a new generation of chip-scale photonic devices and facilitating energy-efficient on-chip information routing and processing. However, present quasi one dimensional (1D) designs, such as the Su–Schrieffer–Heeger and Rice–Mele models, support only a limited number of nontrivial phases due to restrictions on dispersion band engineering. Here, a flexible topological photonic lattice on a silicon photonic platform is experimentally demonstrated that realizes multiple topologically nontrivial dispersion bands. By suitably setting the couplings between the 1D waveguides, different lattices can exhibit the transition between multiple different topological phases and allow the independent realization of the corresponding edge states. Heterodyne measurements clearly reveal the ultrafast transport dynamics of the edge states in different phases at a femtosecond scale, validating the designed topological features. The study equips topological models with enriched edge dynamics and considerably expands the scope to engineer unique topological features into photonic, acoustic, and atomic systems.

AB - Topological photonic systems offer light transport that is robust against defects and disorder, promising a new generation of chip-scale photonic devices and facilitating energy-efficient on-chip information routing and processing. However, present quasi one dimensional (1D) designs, such as the Su–Schrieffer–Heeger and Rice–Mele models, support only a limited number of nontrivial phases due to restrictions on dispersion band engineering. Here, a flexible topological photonic lattice on a silicon photonic platform is experimentally demonstrated that realizes multiple topologically nontrivial dispersion bands. By suitably setting the couplings between the 1D waveguides, different lattices can exhibit the transition between multiple different topological phases and allow the independent realization of the corresponding edge states. Heterodyne measurements clearly reveal the ultrafast transport dynamics of the edge states in different phases at a femtosecond scale, validating the designed topological features. The study equips topological models with enriched edge dynamics and considerably expands the scope to engineer unique topological features into photonic, acoustic, and atomic systems.

KW - multi-topological numbers

KW - topological edge states

KW - topological photonics

KW - ultra-fast heterodyne imaging

U2 - 10.1002/lpor.201800202

DO - 10.1002/lpor.201800202

M3 - Journal article

VL - 13

JO - Laser and Photonics Reviews

JF - Laser and Photonics Reviews

SN - 1863-8880

IS - 2

M1 - 1800202

ER -