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Direct observation of valley-polarized topological edge states in designer surface plasmon crystals

Author

Listed:
  • Xiaoxiao Wu

    (Chongqing University
    The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)

  • Yan Meng

    (Chongqing University
    The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)

  • Jingxuan Tian

    (The University of Hong Kong)

  • Yingzhou Huang

    (Chongqing University)

  • Hong Xiang

    (Chongqing University)

  • Dezhuan Han

    (Chongqing University)

  • Weijia Wen

    (Chongqing University
    The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)

Abstract

The extensive research of two-dimensional layered materials has revealed that valleys, as energy extrema in momentum space, could offer a new degree of freedom for carrying information. Based on this concept, researchers have predicted valley-Hall topological insulators that could support valley-polarized edge states at non-trivial domain walls. Recently, several kinds of photonic and sonic crystals have been proposed as classical counterparts of valley-Hall topological insulators. However, direct experimental observation of valley-polarized edge states in photonic crystals has remained difficult until now. Here, we demonstrate a designer surface plasmon crystal comprising metallic patterns deposited on a dielectric substrate, which can become a valley-Hall photonic topological insulator by exploiting the mirror-symmetry-breaking mechanism. Topological edge states with valley-dependent transport are directly visualized in the microwave regime. The observed edge states are confirmed to be fully valley-polarized through spatial Fourier transforms. Topological protection of the edge states at sharp corners is also experimentally demonstrated.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiaoxiao Wu & Yan Meng & Jingxuan Tian & Yingzhou Huang & Hong Xiang & Dezhuan Han & Weijia Wen, 2017. "Direct observation of valley-polarized topological edge states in designer surface plasmon crystals," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-9, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-017-01515-2
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01515-2
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    Cited by:

    1. Mudi Wang & Qiyun Ma & Shan Liu & Ruo-Yang Zhang & Lei Zhang & Manzhu Ke & Zhengyou Liu & C. T. Chan, 2022. "Observation of boundary induced chiral anomaly bulk states and their transport properties," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-8, December.
    2. Ren, Boquan & Kartashov, Yaroslav V. & Wang, Hongguang & Li, Yongdong & Zhang, Yiqi, 2023. "Floquet topological insulators with hybrid edges," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).

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