Abstract
Existence of robust edge states at interfaces of topologically dissimilar systems is one of the most fascinating manifestations of a novel nontrivial state of matter, a topological insulator. Such nontrivial states were originally predicted and discovered in condensed matter physics, but they find their counterparts in other fields of physics, including the physics of classical waves and electromagnetism. Here, we present the first experimental realization of a topological insulator for electromagnetic waves based on engineered bianisotropic metamaterials. By employing the near-field scanning technique, we demonstrate experimentally the topologically robust propagation of electromagnetic waves around sharp corners without backscattering effects.
Highlights
Nontrivial states of light[1] represent a “Holy Grail” for optical applications usually suffering from undesirable backscattering and interference effects, dramatically limiting the bandwidth and performance of many photonic devices
The open geometry considered here represents a special interest due to possible leakage of topological modes caused by the out-of-plane scattering into the radiative continuum
We are interested in guided waves exponentially confined to the structure in vertical (z-) direction and whose bands are located below the light cone, and, in what follows we focus on the quadratic degeneracies taking place at M points
Summary
The board is cut into linear segments which are staked to form a square lattice. Special mask made from styrofoam material with the dielectric permittivity of 1 is used to control the periodicity of the segments separation. For measurement of the transmission spectra shown, a similar dipole antenna is used as a receiver. To perform the near field measurements we use an automatic mechanical near-field scanning setup and a magnetic field probe connected to the receiving port of the analyser (Fig. 3c). The near field is scanned at the 1 mm distance from the back interface of the metacrystal to avoid a direct contact between the probe and the sample
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