Photonic topological phase transition on demand

Zhaxylyk A Kudyshev,Vladimir M Shalaev,Alexandra Boltasseva,Alexander V Kildishev

doi:10.1515/nanoph-2019-0043

Zhaxylyk A Kudyshev, Vladimir M Shalaev + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1515/nanoph-2019-0043

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Journal: Nanophotonics	Publication Date: Apr 9, 2019
Citations: 21	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Purdue University West Lafayette

Abstract

Abstract On-demand, switchable phase transitions between topologically nontrivial and trivial photonic states are demonstrated. Specifically, it is shown that the integration of a two-dimensional array of coupled ring resonators within a thermal heater array enables unparalleled control over topological protection of photonic modes. Importantly, auxiliary control over a spatial phase modulation opens up a way to guide topologically protected edge modes along generated virtual boundaries. The proposed approach can lead to practical realizations of topological phase transitions in many photonic applications, including topologically protected photonic memory/logic devices, robust optical modulators, and switches.

Highlights

Robust photonic systems for dynamic control of light that are insensitive to fabrication imperfections or disorder are in high demand
Using a commercial solver (Lumerical MODE Solutions), we first obtained system parameters needed for the transfer matrix method, such as coupling ( ) and transmission ( ) coefficients with an add/drop filter as well as two ring resonators coupled through an off-resonant middle ring
We demonstrated the concept of the tunable topological phase transition realized in a photonic system consisting of a coupled ring resonator array

Summary

Introduction

Robust photonic systems for dynamic control of light that are insensitive to fabrication imperfections or disorder are in high demand. Realization of on-demand topological phase transitions will open up unparalleled control over topological protected photonic states, which in turn, can bring in a fundamentally new way of robust optical signal control. To demonstrate proof-of-concept topological phase transitions in photonic topological insulators with phase modulation of link waveguides, we integrate strongly coupled ring resonators with thermal heaters (see Fig. 2a).

Results

Conclusion