# Meron Spin Textures in Momentum Space

## TL;DR

This paper discovers meron and antimeron spin textures in the momentum space of a photonic crystal slab, revealing new topological features in photonic systems that can be visualized through polarization measurements.

## Contribution

It is the first to identify meron and antimeron spin textures in photonic momentum space and demonstrates their direct visualization via leakage radiation polarization.

## Key findings

- Identified meron and antimeron spin textures in photonic bands.
- Broken inversion symmetry gaps Dirac cones, leading to these textures.
- Spin textures can be directly visualized through polarization of leakage radiation.

## Abstract

We reveal the meron and antimeron spin textures in momentum space in a photonic crystal slab. These spin textures in momentum space have not been previously noted either in electronic or photonic systems. Breaking the inversion symmetry of a honeycomb photonic crystal gaps out the Dirac cones at the corners of Brillouin zone. The spin textures of photonic bands near the gaps exhibit a meron or antimeron. Unlike the electronic systems, the spin texture of the photonic modes manifests directly in the polarization of the leakage radiation, as the Dirac points can be above the light line. The spin texture provides a direct approach to visualize the local Berry curvature. Our work highlights the significant opportunities of using photonic structures for the exploration of topological spin textures, with potential applications towards topologically robust ways to manipulate polarizations and other modal characteristics of light.