Invited Article: Topological crystalline protection in a photonic system
Abstract
Topological crystalline insulators are a class of materials with a bulk energy gap and edge or surface modes, which are protected by crystalline symmetry, at their boundaries. They have been realized in electronic systems: in particular, in SnTe. In this work, we propose a mechanism to realize photonic boundary states topologically protected by crystalline symmetry. We map this one-dimensional system to a two-dimensional lattice model with opposite magnetic fields, as well as opposite Chern numbers in its even and odd mirror parity subspaces, thus corresponding to a topological mirror insulator. Furthermore, we test the robustness of the boundary modes depending on their mirror parity by performing time dependent evolution simulations in a photonic setting with realistic experimental parameters.
- Publication:
-
APL Photonics
- Pub Date:
- August 2016
- DOI:
- 10.1063/1.4953364
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1512.02763
- Bibcode:
- 2016APLP....1e0803Z
- Keywords:
-
- Condensed Matter - Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics;
- Physics - Optics
- E-Print:
- 10 pages, 7 figures