Direct Observation of Landau Levels in Silicon Photonic Crystals

TL;DR

This paper reports the experimental observation of photonic Landau levels in silicon photonic crystals caused by strain-induced pseudomagnetic fields, and demonstrates flattening of these levels with additional strain.

Contribution

It provides the first experimental evidence of Landau levels in silicon photonic crystals and shows how to control their dispersion using strain engineering.

Findings

Observation of dispersive photonic Landau levels

Strain-induced pseudomagnetic fields in silicon photonics

Flattening of Landau levels with additional strain

Abstract

We experimentally observe photonic Landau levels that arise due to a strain-induced pseudomagnetic field in a silicon photonic crystal slab. The Landau levels are dispersive (i.e., they are not flat bands) due to the distortion of the unit cell by the strain. We employ an additional strain which induces a pseudoelectric potential to flatten them.