Research progress of topological photonics

Abstract

Inspired by topological phases and phase transitions in condensed matter, a new research field based on topological band theory, topological photonics, has emerged. It breaks through the traditional idea of light regulation by optical superposition principle of real space and energy band theory of solids of reciprocal space, providing a novel mechanism of optical regulation and rich properties of transport and light manipulation. Such as transmission properties of against backscattering and rubout to defects and disorders, selective transports dependent on spin-orbit coupling, and high dimensional manipulation of light. This review paper classifies different topological photonic systems by dimensions, briefly introducing the topological model, the novel physical phenomena, and the corresponding physical picture, such as SSH models, photonic quantum Hall effects, photonic quantum spin Hall effects, photonic Floquet topological insulator, and photonic three-dimensional topological insulator; other advanced platforms such as higher-order, non-Hermitian, and nonlinear topological platforms are also involved; a summary and outlook about the current development, advantages, and challenges of this field are present in the end.