Linear and nonlinear electromagnetic waves in modulated honeycomb media

TL;DR

This paper investigates topological Dirac points and wave dynamics in modulated honeycomb photonic media, revealing how nonlinearity affects topologically protected edge states and discovering new localized nonlinear modes.

Contribution

It proves the existence of Dirac points under minimal assumptions, derives a nonlinear Dirac envelope equation, and uncovers new nonlinear localized modes in honeycomb photonic structures.

Findings

Dirac points exist under minimal material assumptions

Nonlinear effects destroy linear topological edge states

New localized nonlinear modes are demonstrated numerically

Abstract

Wave dynamics in topological materials has been widely studied recently. A striking feature is the existence of robust and chiral wave propagations that have potential applications in many fields. A common way to realize such wave patterns is to utilize Dirac points which carry topological indices and is supported by the symmetries of the media. In this work, we investigate these phenomena in photonic media. Starting with Maxwell's equations with a honeycomb material weight as well as the nonlinear Kerr effect, we first prove the existence of Dirac points in the dispersion surfaces of transverse electric and magnetic Maxwell operators under very general assumptions of the material weight. Our assumptions on the material weight are almost the minimal requirements to ensure the existence of Dirac points in a general hexagonal photonic crystal. We then derive the associated wave packet dynamics in the scenario where the honeycomb structure is weakly modulated. It turns out the reduced envelope equation is generally a two-dimensional nonlinear Dirac equation with a spatially varying mass. By studying the reduced envelope equation with a domain-wall-like mass term, we realize the subtle wave motions which are chiral and immune to local defects. The underlying mechanism is the existence of topologically protected linear line modes, also referred to as edge states. However, we show that these robust linear modes do not survive with nonlinearity. We demonstrate the existence of nonlinear line modes, which can propagate in the nonlinear media based on high-accuracy numerical computations. Moreover, we also report a new type of nonlinear modes which are localized in both directions.