Realization of a photonic topological insulator in Kagome crystals at terahertz wavelengths

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a photonic topological insulator in Kagome crystals operating at terahertz frequencies, showing robust, low-loss edge wave propagation with potential applications in advanced wireless and integrated circuits.

Contribution

The study introduces a new Kagome lattice-based topological phase and experimentally verifies lossless terahertz wave transport along topological edges, advancing topological photonics at THz frequencies.

Findings

High transmission of THz waves along topological edges with sharp turns

Suppression of backscattering due to topological protection

Measurement of amplitude and phase reveals detailed edge state properties

Abstract

Topological systems are inherently robust to disorder and continuous perturbations, resulting in dissipation-free edge transport of electrons in quantum solids, or reflectionless guiding of photons and phonons in classical wave systems characterized by topological invariants. Despite considerable efforts, direct experimental demonstration of theoretically predicted robust, lossless energy transport in topological insulators operating at terahertz frequencies is needed further investigations to shed affirmative light on the unique properties enabled by topological protection. Here, we introduce Kagome lattice that exhibits a new class of symmetry-protected topological phases with very low Berry curvature but nontrivial bulk polarization, and fabricate an optical topological insulator that provide the valley hall effect. Theoretical analysis show that four type edge states can be obtained. Measurements of THz-TDs with high time-resolution demonstrate that terahertz wave propagating along the straight topological edge and Z-shape edge with sharp turns have almost same high transmission in 0.440 THz to 0.457 THz domain range. Those results quantitatively illustrate the suppression of backscattering due to the non-trivial topology of the structure. The THz-TDs measurement yields amplitude and phase information, showing significant advantage compared to general broadband infrared, single wavelength continuous-wave THz measurements and visible spectroscopy. It allows further exploration of the effective refractive index, group velocity and dispersion relations of edge states. Our work offers possibilities for advanced control of the propagation and manipulation of THz waves, and facilitates the applications including sixth-generation (6G) wireless communication, terahertz integrated circuits, and interconnects for intrachip and interchip communication.