A programmable topological photonic chip

TL;DR

This paper presents a fully programmable topological photonic chip that enables dynamic control of topological phases, robustness testing, and phase transitions, advancing the development of versatile topological photonic devices.

Contribution

The authors develop a large-scale, reprogrammable silicon photonic chip with individually controllable artificial atoms for exploring topological phenomena in photonics.

Findings

Demonstrated dynamic topological phase transitions.

Observed topological Anderson phase transitions.

Showed robustness of topological states against disorder.

Abstract

Controlling topological phases of light has allowed experimental observations of abundant topological phenomena and development of robust photonic devices. The prospect of more sophisticated controls with topological photonic devices for practical implementations requires high-level programmability. Here, we demonstrate a fully programmable topological photonic chip with large-scale integration of silicon photonic nanocircuits and microresonators. Photonic artificial atoms and their interactions in our compound system can be individually addressed and controlled, therefore allowing arbitrary altering of structural parameters and geometrical configurations for the observations of dynamic topological phase transitions and diverse photonic topological insulators. By individually programming artificial atoms on the generic chip, it has allowed comprehensive statistic characterisations of topological robustness against relatively weak disorders, as well as counterintuitive topological Anderson phase transitions induced by strong disorders. Our generic topological photonic chip that can be rapidly reprogrammed to implement multifunctionalities, prototypes a flexible and versatile platform for possible applications across fundamental science and topological technologies.