Slow light topological photonics with counter-propagating waves and its active control on a chip
Topological slow light exhibits potential to achieve stopped light by virtue of its widely known robust and non-reciprocal behaviours. Conventional approach for achieving topological slow light often involves flat-band engineering without disentangling the underlying physical mechanism. Here, we unv...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2024
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/174281 |
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| Institution: | Nanyang Technological University |
| Language: | English |
| Summary: | Topological slow light exhibits potential to achieve stopped light by virtue of its widely known robust and non-reciprocal behaviours. Conventional approach for achieving topological slow light often involves flat-band engineering without disentangling the underlying physical mechanism. Here, we unveil the presence of counter-propagating waves within valley kink states as the distinctive hallmark of the slow light topological photonic waveguides. These counter-propagating waves, supported by topological vortices along glide-symmetric interface, provide significant flexibility for controlling the slowness of light. We tune the group velocity of light by changing the spatial separation between vortices adjacent to the glide-symmetric interface. We also dynamically control the group delay by introducing a non-Hermitian defect using photoexcitation to adjust the relative strength of the counter-propagating waves. This study introduces active slow light topological photonic device on a silicon chip, opening new horizons for topological photon transport through defects, topological light-matter interactions, nonlinear topological photonics, and topological quantum photonics. |
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