Crosstalk-free Chiral Anomaly Bulk States in Photonic Crystals

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel photonic waveguide array based on chiral anomaly bulk states that is crosstalk-free, robust to perturbations, and enables ultracompact, high-density integrated photonic circuits.

Contribution

It proposes and demonstrates a new design for crosstalk-free, cladding-free photonic waveguides using topological chiral anomaly bulk states in photonic crystals.

Findings

Successfully demonstrated crosstalk-free waveguides robust to obstacles and bends.

Extended design to two-dimensional structures like resonators and crossings.

Established a new paradigm for robust, ultracompact topological photonic devices.

Abstract

Ultracompact cladding-free waveguide arrays with zero inter-channel spacing and negligible crosstalk open a new avenue for high-density integrated photonic circuits. However, existing cladding-free waveguide arrays typically rely on conventional trivial bulk modes, making them highly susceptible to scattering losses at sharp bends or in the presence of obstacles and defects. To overcome this limitation, we theoretically propose and experimentally demonstrate a robust, crosstalk-free, and cladding-free photonic waveguide array based on chiral anomaly bulk states (CABSs) in photonic crystals. By interfacing distinct Dirac photonic crystals that host Dirac cones at different high-symmetry points ({\Gamma} and K) in the Brillouin zone and carefully engineering the boundary conditions, the boundary-induced CABSs in adjacent channels become effectively decoupled due to a large momentum separation, thereby eliminating inter-channel crosstalk. More importantly, we experimentally demonstrate that these crosstalk-free CABSs are robust to perturbations, including metallic obstacles, air defects, and sharp bends. We further extend the CABS-based waveguide array to two dimensions and demonstrate a cladding-free triangular resonator and a crosstalk-free waveguide crossing, both of which are previously unattainable. Our work establishes a new design paradigm for cladding-free, crosstalk-free, and ultracompact topological photonic devices, paving the way for robust, highly integrated photonic circuits.