Cubic 3D Chern photonic insulators with orientable large Chern vectors

Chiara Devescovi (), Mikel García-Díez, Iñigo Robredo, María Blanco de Paz, Jon Lasa-Alonso, Barry Bradlyn, Juan L. Mañes, Maia G. Vergniory () and Aitzol García-Etxarri ()
Additional contact information
Chiara Devescovi: Donostia International Physics Center
Mikel García-Díez: Donostia International Physics Center
Iñigo Robredo: Donostia International Physics Center
María Blanco de Paz: Donostia International Physics Center
Jon Lasa-Alonso: Donostia International Physics Center
Barry Bradlyn: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Juan L. Mañes: University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU)
Maia G. Vergniory: Donostia International Physics Center
Aitzol García-Etxarri: Donostia International Physics Center

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract Time Reversal Symmetry (TRS) broken topological phases provide gapless surface states protected by topology, regardless of additional internal symmetries, spin or valley degrees of freedom. Despite the numerous demonstrations of 2D topological phases, few examples of 3D topological systems with TRS breaking exist. In this article, we devise a general strategy to design 3D Chern insulating (3D CI) cubic photonic crystals in a weakly TRS broken environment with orientable and arbitrarily large Chern vectors. The designs display topologically protected chiral and unidirectional surface states with disjoint equifrequency loops. The resulting crystals present the following characteristics: First, by increasing the Chern number, multiple surface states channels can be supported. Second, the Chern vector can be oriented along any direction simply changing the magnetization axis, opening up larger 3D CI/3D CI interfacing possibilities as compared to 2D. Third, by lowering the TRS breaking requirements, the system is ideal for realistic photonic applications where the magnetic response is weak.

Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-27168-w Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-27168-w

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-27168-w

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().