Multimode interference in topological photonic heterostructure

In this Letter, topological photonic heterostructures, which are composed of finite-size photonic crystals with different topological phases, are proposed. The coupled topological edge states (CTESs), which originate from the coupling between topological edge states, are found. By using the finite element method, the multimode interference effect of CTESs is predicted and investigated. Paired and symmetrical interferences are discussed, and the respective imaging positions are calculated. In addition, the multimode interference effect is topologically protected when introducing disorders. As examples of application, frequency and power splitters of topological edge states based on the multimode interference effect are designed and demonstrated numerically. Our findings pave a new, to the best of our knowledge, way of designing topological photonic integrated circuit applications such as filters, couplers, multiplexers, and so on.