Topologically tuned terahertz confinement in a nonlinear photonic chip

Jiayi Wang; Shiqi Xia; Ride Wang; Ruobin Ma; Yao Lu; Xinzheng Zhang; Daohong Song; Qiang Wu; Roberto Morandotti; Jingjun Xu; Zhigang Chen

doi:10.1038/s41377-022-00823-7

Topologically tuned terahertz confinement in a nonlinear photonic chip

Light Sci Appl. 2022 May 23;11(1):152. doi: 10.1038/s41377-022-00823-7.

Authors

Jiayi Wang^#¹, Shiqi Xia^#¹, Ride Wang^#², Ruobin Ma¹, Yao Lu¹, Xinzheng Zhang^{3

4}, Daohong Song^{1

5}, Qiang Wu^{1

5}, Roberto Morandotti⁶, Jingjun Xu⁷, Zhigang Chen^{8

9}

Affiliations

¹ The MOE Key Laboratory of Weak-Light Nonlinear Photonics, TEDA Institute of Applied Physics and School of Physics, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300457, China.
² Innovation Laboratory of Terahertz Biophysics, National Innovation Institute of Defense Technology, 100071, Beijing, China.
³ The MOE Key Laboratory of Weak-Light Nonlinear Photonics, TEDA Institute of Applied Physics and School of Physics, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300457, China. zxz@nankai.edu.cn.
⁴ Collaborative Innovation Center of Extreme Optics, Shanxi University, 030006, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China. zxz@nankai.edu.cn.
⁵ Collaborative Innovation Center of Extreme Optics, Shanxi University, 030006, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China.
⁶ INRS-EMT, 1650 Blvd. Lionel-Boulet, Varennes, QC, J3X 1S2, Canada.
⁷ The MOE Key Laboratory of Weak-Light Nonlinear Photonics, TEDA Institute of Applied Physics and School of Physics, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300457, China. jjxu@nankai.edu.cn.
⁸ The MOE Key Laboratory of Weak-Light Nonlinear Photonics, TEDA Institute of Applied Physics and School of Physics, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300457, China. zgchen@nankai.edu.cn.
⁹ Collaborative Innovation Center of Extreme Optics, Shanxi University, 030006, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China. zgchen@nankai.edu.cn.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Compact terahertz (THz) functional devices are greatly sought after for high-speed wireless communication, biochemical sensing, and non-destructive inspection. However, controlled THz generation, along with transport and detection, has remained a challenge especially for chip-scale devices due to low-coupling efficiency and unavoidable absorption losses. Here, based on the topological protection of electromagnetic waves, we demonstrate nonlinear generation and topologically tuned confinement of THz waves in an engineered lithium niobate chip forming a wedge-shaped Su-Schrieffer-Heeger lattice. Experimentally measured band structures provide direct visualization of the THz localization in the momentum space, while robustness of the confined mode against chiral perturbations is also analyzed and compared for both topologically trivial and nontrivial regimes. Such topological control of THz waves may bring about new possibilities in the realization of THz integrated circuits, promising for advanced photonic applications.

Abstract

Grants and funding