Reconfigurable topological photonic crystal

Topological insulators are materials that conduct on the surface and insulate in their interior due to non-trivial topology of the band structure. The edge states on the interface between topological (non-trivial) and conventional (trivial) insulators are topologically protected from scattering due to structural defects and disorders. Recently, it was shown that photonic crystals (PCs) can serve as a platform for realizing a scatter-free propagation of light waves. In conventional PCs, imperfections, structural disorders, and surface roughness lead to significant losses. The breakthrough in overcoming these problems is likely to come from the synergy of the topological PCs and silicon-based photonics technology that enables high integration density, lossless propagation, and immunity to fabrication imperfections. For many applications, reconfigurability and capability to control the propagation of these non-trivial photonic edge states is essential. One way to facilitate such dynamic control is to use liquid crystals (LCs), which allow to modify the refractive index with external electric field. Here, we demonstrate dynamic control of topological edge states by modifying the refractive index of a LC background medium. Background index is changed depending on the orientation of a LC, while preserving the topology of the system. This results in a change of the spectral position of the photonic bandgap and the topological edge states. The proposed concept might be implemented using conventional semiconductor technology, and can be used for robust energy transport in integrated photonic devices, all-optical circuity, and optical communication systems.