Valley kink states and topological channel intersections in substrate-integrated photonic circuitry

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the experimental realization and manipulation of valley kink states at generic interfaces in substrate-integrated photonic circuits, enabling robust topological channel intersections with practical advantages over previous zigzag-based designs.

Contribution

It introduces a method to create and control valley kink states at arbitrary interfaces in subwavelength photonic circuits, expanding potential applications.

Findings

Robust valley kink states verified through transmission measurements.

Successful realization of topological channel intersections.

Compatibility with conventional substrate-integrated photonic circuitry.

Abstract

Valley degrees of freedom, providing a novel way to increase capacity and efficiency of information processing, have become an important instrument for photonics. Experimental studies on photonic topological valley kink states at interfaces between regions with opposite valley-Chern numbers have attracted much attention, however, were restricted to zigzag-type interfaces, largely limiting their applications such as geometry-dependent topological channel intersections. Here, we experimentally demonstrate and manipulate valley kink states at generic interfaces in subwavelength substrate-integrated photonic circuitry. We verify the robustness of the kink states by measuring transmissions of the kink states through twisted interfaces and interfaces with disorders. Based on the valley kink states at generic interfaces, we realize several topological channel intersections where photonic transport paths are related to geometries of the intersections. In comparison to those in previous works, the present valley photonic crystals have subwavelength thicknesses and excellent self-consistent electrical shielding, which are perfectly compatible with conventional substrate-integrated photonic circuitry. Our work opens a door to manipulate photonic valley pseudo-spins in substrate-integrated circuitry with robustness, easy access, and lightweight.