Observation of Quadrupole Transitions and Edge Mode Topology in an LC network

TL;DR

This paper reports the experimental observation of a high-order topological transition in an LC circuit-based quadrupole topological insulator, demonstrating tunable corner states and confirming their topological properties through boundary state analysis.

Contribution

First experimental observation of a high-order topological transition in an LC circuit with nonlinear couplings, including characterization and effective theory of boundary states.

Findings

Observation of quadrupole topological transition

Tunable corner state localization length

Measurement of winding number confirming topology

Abstract

High-order topological insulators are a recent development extending the topological theory of charge polarization to higher multipole moments. Since their theoretical proposal, several experimental realizations of high-order topological insulators have been reported. However, high order topological transitions have not been observed. In this letter, we report on the observation of a high-order topological transition in a quadrupole topological insulator implemented in an LC circuit with nonlinear couplings. This system presents the ability to confine electromagnetic energy in its corner states, with a localization length that can be tuned over a broad range through the use of an external bias voltage. Additionally, we provide an experimental characterization and an effective theory for the boundary states, further corroborating their topological nature by direct measurement of the winding number.