Mathematical theory for topological photonic materials in one dimension

TL;DR

This paper develops a rigorous mathematical framework for understanding topological photonic materials in one dimension, focusing on the existence, stability, and properties of interface modes influenced by topological invariants like the Zak phase.

Contribution

It provides new conditions for the existence and stability of interface modes in 1D topological photonic structures, extending the analysis to systems with and without quantized Zak phases.

Findings

Interface modes exist at the boundary of topologically distinct systems.

Zak phase is quantized to 0 or π in symmetric structures and relates to mode parity.

Stability of interface modes under perturbations is established.

Abstract

This work presents a rigorous theory for topological photonic materials in one dimension. The main focus is on the existence and stability of interface modes that are induced by topological properties of the bulk structure. For a general 1D photonic structure with time-reversal symmetry, the associated Zak phase (or Berry phase) may not be quantized. We investigate the existence of an interface mode which is induced by a Dirac point upon perturbation. Specifically, we establish conditions on the perturbation which guarantee the opening of a band gap around the Dirac point and the existence of an interface mode. For a periodic photonic structure with both time-reversal and inversion symmetry, the Zak phase is quantized, taking only two values $0, \pi$. We show that the Zak phase is determined by the parity (even or odd) of the Bloch modes at the band edges. For a photonic structure consisting of two semi-infinite systems on the two sides of an interface with distinct topological indices, we show the existence of an interface mode inside the common gap. The stability of the mode under perturbations is also investigated. Finally, we study resonances for finite topological structures. Our results are based on the transfer matrix method and the oscillation theory for Sturm-Liouville operators. The methods and results can be extended to general topological Sturm-Liouville systems in one dimension.