Wen-Jie Chen

Experimental realization of photonic topological insulator in a uniaxial metacrystal waveguide

Photonic analogue of topological insulator was recently predicted by arranging ε/μ (permittivity/permeability)-matched bianisotropic metamaterials into two-dimensional superlattices. However, the experimental observation of such photonic topological insulator is challenging as bianisotropic metamaterial is usually highly dispersive, so that the ε/μ-matching condition can only be satisfied in a narrow frequency range. Here we experimentally realize a photonic topological insulator by embedding non-bianisotropic and non-resonant metacrystal into a waveguide. The cross coupling between transverse electric and transverse magnetic modes exists in metacrystal waveguide. Using this approach, the ε/μ-matching condition is satisfied in a broad frequency range which facilitates experimental observation. The topologically non-trivial bandgap is confirmed by experimentally measured transmission spectra and calculated non-zero spin Chern numbers. Gapless spin-filtered edge states are demonstrated experimentally by measuring the magnitude and phase of the fields. The transport robustness of the edge states is also observed when an obstacle was introduced near the edge.

Synthetic gauge flux and Weyl points in acoustic systems

Inspired by the discovery of quantum hall effect and topological insulator, topological properties of classical waves start to draw worldwide attention. Topological non-trivial bands characterized by non-zero Chern numbers are realized with external magnetic field induced time reversal symmetry breaking or dynamic modulation. Due to the absence of Faraday-like effect, the breaking of time reversal symmetry in an acoustic system is commonly realized with moving background fluids, and hence drastically increases the engineering complexity. Here we show that we can realize effective inversion symmetry breaking and effective gauge field in a reduced two-dimensional system by structurally engineering interlayer couplings, achieving an acoustic analog of the topological Haldane model. We then find and demonstrate unidirectional backscattering immune edge states. We show that the synthetic gauge field is closely related to the Weyl points in the three-dimensional band structure.

Photonic crystals possessing multiple Weyl points and the experimental observation of robust surface states.

Weyl points, as monopoles of Berry curvature in momentum space, have captured much attention recently in various branches of physics. Realizing topological materials that exhibit such nodal points is challenging and indeed, Weyl points have been found experimentally in transition metal arsenide and phosphide and gyroid photonic crystal whose structure is complex. If realizing even the simplest type of single Weyl nodes with a topological charge of 1 is difficult, then making a real crystal carrying higher topological charges may seem more challenging. Here we design, and fabricate using planar fabrication technology, a photonic crystal possessing single Weyl points (including type-II nodes) and multiple Weyl points with topological charges of 2 and 3. We characterize this photonic crystal and find nontrivial 2D bulk band gaps for a fixed kz and the associated surface modes. The robustness of these surface states against kz-preserving scattering is experimentally observed for the first time.

Observation of Backscattering-Immune Chiral Electromagnetic Modes Without Time Reversal Breaking

A strategy is proposed to realize robust transport in a time reversal invariant photonic system. Using numerical simulation and a microwave experiment, we demonstrate that a chiral guided mode in the channel of a three-dimensional dielectric layer-by-layer photonic crystal is immune to the scattering of a square patch of metal or dielectric inserted to block the channel. The chirality based robust transport can be realized in nonmagnetic dielectric materials without any external field.

Manipulating pseudospin-polarized state of light in dispersion-immune photonic topological metacrystals

We proposed a group-theory method to calculate topological invariant in bi-isotropic photonic crystals invariant under crystallographic point group symmetries. Spin Chern number has been evaluated by the eigenvalues of rotation operators at high symmetry k-points after the pseudo-spin polarized fields are retrieved. Topological characters of photonic edge states and photonic band gaps can be well predicted by total spin Chern number. Nontrivial phase transition is found in large magnetoelectric coupling due to the jump of total spin Chern number. Light transport is also issued at the {\epsilon}/{\mu} mismatching boundary between air and the bi-isotropic photonic crystal. This finding presents the relationship between group symmetry and photonic topological systems, which enables the design of photonic nontrivial states in a rational manner.

Symmetry-protected transport in a pseudospin-polarized waveguide

If a system possesses a spin or pseudospin, which is locked to the linear momentum, spin-polarized states can exhibit backscattering-immune transport if the scatterer does not flip the spin. Good examples of such systems include electronic and photonic topological insulators. For electromagnetic waves, such pseudospin states can be achieved in metamaterials with very special artificial symmetries; however, these bulk photonic topological insulators are usually difficult to fabricate. Here we propose a paradigm in which the pseudospin is enforced simply by imposing special boundary conditions inside a channel. The symmetry-protected pseudospin states are guided in air and no bulk material is required. We also show that the special boundary conditions can be implemented simply using an array of metallic conductors, resulting in spin-filtered waveguide with a simple structure and a broad working bandwidth. We generate several conceptual designs, and symmetry-protected pseudospin transport in the microwave regime is experimentally indicated.

Fano resonance of three-dimensional spiral photonic crystals: Paradoxical transmission and polarization gap

Extraordinary Fano resonance with right handedness is present in a right-handed polarization gap of compound spiral photonic crystals. The structure is composed of unit cells with double helices of π phase shift arranged in square lattice. Such a paradoxical phenomenon is derived from mode interferences between left-handed propagating modes along spiral axis and negative group velocity modes in extended Brillouin zone. By analyzing Fourier spectra and chirality of photonic eigenmodes, intrinsic mechanism is well understood by mode coupling theory.

Enhancement of spontaneous emission rate and reduction in amplified spontaneous emission threshold in electrodeposited three-dimensional ZnO photonic crystal

ZnO photonic crystal (PC) with face-center-cube type structure is fabricated by electrodeposition using holographic lithographically made organic (SU-8) template. Photonic band gap effect (reflection peak and transmission dip in infrared spectral region) is clearly seen. Observation of strong enhancement and blueshift of the emission peak (from 383.8 to 378.8 nm), shortening of the exciton photoluminescence lifetime (from 88 to 34 ps), and reduction in amplified spontaneous emission threshold of ZnO PC compared to that of the reference nonstructured electrodeposited ZnO showed clear evidence of PC structure affecting the ZnO exciton emission.

Multiple Weyl Points and the Sign Change of their Topological Charges in Woodpile Photonic Crystals

Weyl points in photonic systems have gained much attention for their novel properties, such as topologically protected robustness and gapless surface states. However, many Weyl photonic crystal structures designed previously are probably too complicated for nanofabrication. Here, the authors discover that Weyl points can be found in metallic chiral woodpile photonic crystals, which can be fabricated using current nanotechnology. Weyl points with topological charge not only 1 but also 2 can be found in these photonic crystals. When the constituent materials change from the air-in-metal to metal-in-air configuration, the sign of the topological charge will change, leading to a topological phase transition, and the bands change from topologically trivial to nontrivial. Gapless surface states exist in the latter case and robust transport properties have also been demonstrated numerically. When the metallic component is replaced by dielectric materials, such as silicon, the Weyl points still exist. These woodpile photonic crystals should become promising platforms for exploring Weyl point related physics at optical frequencies.

Full controlling of Fano resonances in metal-slit superlattice

Controlling of the lineshape of Fano resonance attracts much attention recently due to its wide capabilities for lasing, biosensing, slow-light applications and so on. However, the controllable Fano resonance always requires stringent alignment of complex symmetry-breaking structures and thus the manipulation could only be performed with limited degrees of freedom and narrow tuning range. Furthermore, there is no report so far on independent controlling of both the bright and dark modes in a single structure. Here, we semi-analytically show that the spectral position and linewidth of both the bright and dark modes can be tuned independently and/or simultaneously in a simple and symmetric metal-slit superlattice, and thus allowing for a free and continuous controlling of the lineshape of both the single and multiple Fano resonances. The independent controlling scheme is applicable for an extremely large electromagnetic spectrum range from optical to microwave frequencies, which is demonstrated by the numerical simulations with real metal and a microwave experiment. Our findings may provide convenient and flexible strategies for future tunable electromagnetic devices.