Photonic topological Chern insulators based on Tellegen metacrystals. (23rd December 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Jacobs, Daniel A; Miroshnichenko, Andrey E; Kivshar, Yuri S; Khanikaev, Alexander B
• Is Part Of: New journal of physics. Volume 17:Number 12(2015:Dec.)
• Publication Date: 2015-12-23
• Subjects: topological order -- photonic crystals -- metamaterials; Physics -- Periodicals; Physics; Periodicals; 530.05
• DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/17/12/125015
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1367-2630

Abstract

Abstract: We demonstrate that topologically nontrivial states of light can be engineered in periodic photonic structures containing media with a Tellegen-type bianisotropic response. Whilst in such bianisotropic materials the time-reversal symmetry is broken, they are characterized by an intrinsic magnetic order which does not require macroscopic magnetization. Our design can therefore be considered as a direct analog of the solid state Chern insulator which exhibits a topological order in the absence of an external bias. Numerical simulations of such Tellegen photonic crystals reveal the existence of one-way edge transport at domain walls and perfectly conducting boundaries not sensitive to structural imperfections such as local defects and disorder. We demonstrate a scheme for achieving robust steering of the edge modes by controlling the phase and amplitude of the source.