Weyl photons appear when two three-dimensional photonic bands with linear dispersion are degenerate at a single momentum point, labeled as Weyl point. These points have remarkable properties such as being robust topological monopoles of Berry curvature as well as an associated vanishing density of states. In this work, we report on a systematic theoretical study of the quantum optical consequences of such Weyl photons. First, we analyze the dynamics of a single quantum emitter coupled to a Weyl photonic bath as a function of its detuning with respect to the Weyl point and study the corrresponding emission patterns, using both perturbative and exact treatments. Our calculations show an asymmetric dynamical behavior when the emitter is detuned away from the Weyl frequency, as well as different regimes of highly collimated emission, which ultimately translate in a variety of directional collective decays. Besides, we find that the incorporation of staggered mass and hopping terms in the bath Hamiltonian both enriches the observed phenomenology and increases the tunability of the interaction. Finally, we analyze the competition between the coherent and dissipative components of the dynamics for the case of two emitters and derive the conditions under which an effective interacting spin model description is valid.
Weyl points in three-dimensional photonic crystals behave as monopoles of Berry flux in momentum space. Here, based on general symmetry analysis, we show that a minimal number of four symmetry-related (consequently equifrequency) Weyl points can be realized in time-reversal invariant photonic crystals. We further propose an experimentally-feasible way to modify double-gyroid photonic crystals to realize four equifrequency Weyl points, which is explicitly confirmed by our first-principle photonic band-structure calculations. Remarkably, photonic crystals with equifrequency Weyl points are quali…
We designed and fabricated a time-reversal invariant Weyl photonic crystal that possesses single Weyl nodes with topological charge of 1 and double Weyl nodes with a higher topological charge of 2. Using numerical simulations and microwave experiment, nontrivial band gaps with nonzero Chern numbers for a fixed kz was demonstrated. The robustness of the surface state between the Weyl photonic crystal and PEC against kz-conserving scattering was experimentally observed.
Unconventional Weyl points with topological charges higher than 1 can transform into various complex unconventional Weyl exceptional contours under non-Hermitian perturbations. However, theoretical studies of these exceptional contours have been limited to tight-binding models. Here, we propose to realize unconventional Weyl exceptional contours in photonic continua -- non-Hermitian anisotropic chiral plasma, based on ab initio calculation by Maxwell's equations. By perturbing in-plane permittivity, an unconventional Weyl point can transform into a quadratic Weyl exceptional circle, a Type-I W…
Weyl semimetals can be described as the three-dimensional analogue of graphene, showing linear dispersion around nodes (Weyl points) [1]. Tantalum arsenide (TaAs) is among the most studied Weyl semimetals. It has been demonstrated that TaAs has a very high value of the real part of the complex refractive index in the infrared region [2]. In this work we show one-dimensional photonic crystals alternating TaAs with SiO2 or TiO2 and a microcavity where a layer of TaAs is embedded between two SiO2-TiO2 multilayer.
Weyl points are the degenerate points in three-dimensional momentum space with nontrivial topological phase, which are usually realized in classical system with structure and symmetry designs. Here we proposed a one-dimensional layer-stacked photonic crystal using anisotropic materials to realize ideal type-II Weyl points without structure designs. The topological transition from two Dirac points to four Weyl points can be clearly observed by tuning the twist angle between layers. Besides, on the interface between the photonic type-II Weyl material and air, gappless surface states have also be…
Classical topological phases derived from point degeneracies in photonic bandstructures show intriguing and unique behaviour. Previously identified exceptional points are based on accidental degeneracies and subject to engineering on a case-by-case basis. Here we show that symmetry induced (deterministic) pseudo Weyl points with non-trivial topology and hyper-conic dispersion exist at the centre of the Brillouin zone of chiral cubic systems. We establish the physical implications by means of a $P2_13$ sphere packing, realised as a nano plasmonic system and a photonic crystal.
Weyl points are point degeneracies that occur in momentum space of periodic materials, and are associated with a quantized topological charge. We experimentally observe in a 3D micro-printed photonic crystal that a charge-2 Weyl point can be split into two charge-1 Weyl points as the protecting symmetry of the original charge-2 Weyl point is broken. Moreover, we use a theoretical analysis to confirm where the charge-1 Weyl points move within the Brillouin zone as the strength of the symmetry breaking increases, and confirm it in experiments using Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry. This m…
Unidirectional transports have been observed in two-dimensional systems, however, so far they have not been experimentally observed in three-dimensional bulk materials. In this theoretical work we show that the recently discovered Weyl materials provide a platform for unidirectional transports inside bulk materials. With high experimental feasibility, a complex Dirac mass can be generated and manipulated in the photonic Weyl crystals, creating unidirectionally propagating modes observable in transmission experiments. Possible realization in (electronic) Weyl semimetals is also studied. We show…
Weyl points are robust point degeneracies in the band structure of a periodic material, which act as monopoles of Berry curvature. They have been at the forefront of research in three-dimensional topological materials (whether photonic, electronic or otherwise) as they are associated with novel behavior both in the bulk and on the surface. Here, we present the experimental observation of a charge-2 photonic Weyl point in a low-index-contrast photonic crystal fabricated by two-photon polymerization. The reflection spectrum obtained via Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy closely matc…
Microwave transmission measurements were performed for a three-dimensional (3D) layer-by-layer chiral photonic crystal (PhC), whose photonic band structure contains 3D singular points, Weyl points. For the frequency and wavevector in the vicinity of a Weyl point, the transmitted intensity was found to be inversely proportional to the square of the propagation length. In addition, the transmitted wave was well-collimated in the plane parallel to the PhC layers, even for point-source incidence. When a plane wave was incident on the PhC containing metal scatters, the planar wavefront was reconstr…
In this letter, we report the presence of novel type of plasmon Weyl points in a naturally existing material - magnetized plasma. In such a medium, conventional, purely longitudinal bulk plasma oscillations exists only along the direction of applied magnetic field (z direction). With strong enough magnetic field, there exist helical propagating modes along z direction with circular polarizations. The orthogonality between the longitudinal bulk plasmon mode and the transverse helical propagating modes guarantees their crossing at the bulk plasmon frequency. These crossing points, embedded in th…
Weyl points and line nodes are three-dimensional linear point- and line-degeneracies between two bands. In contrast to Dirac points, which are their two-dimensional analogues, Weyl points are stable in the momentum space and the associated surface states are predicted to be topologically non-trivial. However, Weyl points are yet to be discovered in nature. Here, we report photonic crystals, based on the double-gyroid structures, exhibiting frequency-isolated Weyl points with intricate phase diagrams. The surface states associated with the non-zero Chern numbers are demonstrated. Line nodes are…
We design sub-wavelength high-performing non-reciprocal optical devices using recently discovered magnetic Weyl semimetals. These passive bulk topological materials exhibit anomalous Hall effect which results in magnetooptical effects that are orders of magnitude higher than those in conventional materials, without the need of any external magnetic bias. We design two optical isolators of both Faraday and Voigt geometries. These isolators have dimensions that are reduced by three orders of magnitude compared to conventional magneto-optical configurations. Our results indicate that the magnetic…
The study of spin-orbit coupling of photons has attracted much attention in recent years, and leads to many potential applications in optics. In the recently discovered metamaterial -- photonic crystals with Weyl points, the pseudospin-orbit coupling of photons bears a resemblance to the spin-orbit coupling. We study the pseudospin Hall effect of light in such metamaterials and find that during total reflection, the light beam experiences a transverse shift that is proportional to the pseudospin (or the monopole charge) of the Weyl point. As the spin Hall effect has inspired many works to expl…
The polarizations of topological edge modes in the vicinity of optical Weyl points were numerically studied in chiral photonic crystals. We investigated two kinds of rotationally stacked woodpile structures in which planar rod arrays were vertically stacked one-by-one with an in-plane rotation angle of 60 or 45 degrees. Both structures showed pairs of optical Weyl points having topological numbers of opposite signs for photonic bands in low orders. Topological edge states derived from the Weyl points appeared below the light line, and were strongly confined at the air interfaces in a length sh…
We show that Weyl points with topological charges 1 and 2 can be found in very simple chiral woodpile photonic crystals, which can be fabricated using current techniques down to the nano-scale. The sign of the topological charges can be tuned by changing the material parameters of the crystal, keeping the structure and the symmetry unchanged. The underlying physics can be understood using a tight binding model, which shows that the sign of the charge depends on the hopping range. Gapless surface states and their back-scattering immune properties are also demonstrated in these systems.
Unconventional Weyl points (WPs), carrying topological charge 2 or higher, possess interesting properties different from ordinary charge-1 WPs, including multiple Fermi arcs that stretch over a large portion of the Brillouin zone. Thus far, such WPs have been observed in chiral materials and acoustic metamaterials, but there has been no clean demonstration in photonics in which the unconventional photonic WPs are separated from trivial bands. We experimentally realize an ideal symmetry-protected photonic charge-2 WP in a three-dimensional topological chiral microwave metamaterial. We use field…
Long-range coherent interactions between quantum emitters are instrumental for quantum information and simulation technologies, but they are generally difficult to isolate from dissipation. Here, we show how such interactions can be obtained in photonic Weyl environments due to the emergence of an exotic bound state whose wavefunction displays power-law spatial confinement. Using an exact formalism, we show how this bound state can mediate coherent transfer of excitations between emitters, with virtually no dissipation and with a transfer rate that follows the same scaling with distance as the…
In 1929, Hermann Weyl derived the massless solutions from the Dirac equation - the relativistic wave equation for electrons. Neutrinos were thought, for decades, to be Weyl fermions until the discovery of the neutrino mass. Moreover, it has been suggested that low energy excitations in condensed matter can be the solutions to the Weyl Hamiltonian. Recently, photons have also been proposed to emerge as Weyl particles inside photonic crystals. In all cases, two linear dispersion bands in the three-dimensional (3D) momentum space intersect at a single degenerate point - the Weyl point. Remarkably…
Recently, the gapless Dirac/Weyl nodal semimetals with linear dispersion and topologically protected modes degeneracy are rapidly growing frontiers of topological physics. Especially, type-I, type-II, and critical type-III nodal semimetals are discovered according to the tilt angles of the Dirac/Weyl cones. Here, by introducing hyperbolic metamaterials into one-dimensional photonic crystals, we design the "hyper-crystal" and study the photonic four-fold degenerate Dirac nodal line semimetals (DNLSs) with two types of perpendicularly polarized waves. Moreover, the flexibly controlled photonic D…
Weyl points, serving as monopoles in the momentum space and laying the foundation of topological gapless phases, have recently been experimentally demonstrated in various physical systems. However, none of the observed Weyl degeneracies are ideal: they either offset in energy or coexist with trivial dispersions at other momenta. The lack of an ideal Weyl system sets a serious limit to the further development of Weyl physics and potential applications. Here, by constructing a photonic metamaterial, we experimentally observe an ideal Weyl system, whose nodal frequencies are pinned by symmetries …
Weyl fermions have not been found in nature as elementary particles, but they emerge as nodal points in the band structure of electronic and classical wave crystals. Novel phenomena such as Fermi arcs and chiral anomaly have fueled the interest in these topological points which are frequently perceived as monopoles in momentum space. Here we report the experimental observation of generalized optical Weyl points inside the parameter space of a photonic crystal with a specially designed four-layer unit cell. The reflection at the surface of a truncated photonic crystal exhibits phase vortexes du…
Topological photonics, featured by stable topological edge states resistant to perturbations, has been utilized to design robust integrated devices. Here, we present a study exploring the intriguing topological rotated Weyl physics in a 3D parameter space based on quaternary waveguide arrays on lithium niobate-on-insulator (LNOI) chips. Unlike previous works that focus on the Fermi arc surface states of a single Weyl structure, we can experimentally construct arbitrary interfaces between two Weyl structures whose orientations can be freely rotated in the synthetic parameter space. This intrigu…
Scatterings and transport in Weyl semimetals have caught growing attention in condensed matter physics, with observables including chiral zero modes and the associated magnetoresistance and chiral magnetic effects. Measurement of electrical conductance is usually performed in these studies, which, however, cannot resolve the momentum of electrons, preventing direct observation of the phase singularities in scattering matrix associated with Weyl point. Here we experimentally demonstrate a helical phase distribution in the angle (momentum) resolved scattering matrix of electromagnetic waves in a…
Weyl points are the simplest topologically-protected degeneracy in a three-dimensional dispersion relation. The realization of Weyl semimetals in photonic crystals has allowed these singularities and their consequences to be explored with electromagnetic waves. However, it is difficult to achieve nonlinearities in such systems. One promising approach is to use the strong-coupling of photons and excitons, because the resulting polaritons interact through their exciton component. Yet topological polaritons have only been realized in two dimensions. Here, we predict that the dispersion relation f…
Weyl fermions1 do not appear in nature as elementary particles, but they are now found to exist as nodal points in the band structure of electronic and classical wave crystals. Novel phenomena such as Fermi arcs and chiral anomaly have fueled the interest of these topological points which are frequently perceived as monopoles in momentum space. Here, we demonstrate that generalized Weyl points can exist in a parameter space and we report the first observation of such nodal points in one-dimensional photonic crystals in the optical range. The reflection phase inside the band gap of a truncated …
In recent years there has been a great interest in topological photonics and protected edge states. Here, we present a first principles method to compute topological invariants of three-dimensional gapless phases. Our approach allows to calculate the topological charges of Weyl points through the efficient numerical computation of gap Chern numbers, which relies solely on the photonic Green's function of the system. We particularize the framework to the Weyl points that are found to emerge in a magnetized plasma due to the breaking of time reversal symmetry. We discuss the relevance of modelli…
We discover a pair of stable 3D Dirac points, 3D photonic analog of graphene, in all-dielectric photonic crystals using structures commensurate with nano-fabrication for visible-frequency photonic applications. The Dirac points carry nontrivial $Z_2$ topology and emerge for a large range of material parameters in hollow cylinder hexagonal photonic crystals. From Kramers theorem and group theory, we find that only the $C_6$ symmetry lead to point group symmetry stabilized Dirac points in 3D all-dielectric photonic crystals. {The Dirac points are characterized using ${\vec k}\cdot{\vec P}$ theor…
We present a theoretical model to study the nonlinear optical response of materials with a low-energy spectrum characterised by strongly tilted, type-II, Weyl cones in two dimensions, which we call 2D Weyl materials. Our findings reveal that the tilted nature of the Weyl cones is responsible for the appearance of even harmonics in the nonlinear signal, as well as its strong polarisation dependence. We discuss how it is possible to control such nonlinear response and envision how 2D Weyl materials can be used to realise novel photonic devices for sensing applications.
Weyl points are isolated degeneracies in reciprocal space that are monopoles of the Berry curvature. This topological charge makes them inherently robust to Hermitian perturbations of the system. However, non-Hermitian effects, usually inaccessible in condensed matter systems, are an important feature of photonics systems, and when added to an otherwise Hermitian Weyl material have been predicted to spread the Berry charge of the Weyl point out onto a ring of exceptional points, creating a Weyl exceptional ring and fundamentally altering its properties. Here, we observe the implications of the…
The Dirac equation for relativistic electron waves is the parent model for Weyl and Majorana fermions as well as topological insulators. Simulation of Dirac physics in three-dimensional photonic crystals, though fundamentally important for topological phenomena at optical frequencies, encounters the challenge of synthesis of both Kramers double degeneracy and parity inversion. Here we show how type-II Dirac points---exotic Dirac relativistic waves yet to be discovered---are robustly realized through the nonsymmorphic screw symmetry. The emergent type-II Dirac points carry nontrivial topology a…
Topological insulators constitute one of the most intriguing phenomena in modern condensed matter theory. The unique and exotic properties of topological states of matter allow for unidirectional gapless electron transport and extremely accurate measurements of the Hall conductivity. Recently, new topological effects occurring at Dirac/Weyl points have been better understood and demonstrated using artificial materials such as photonic and phononic crystals, metamaterials and electrical circuits. In comparison, the topological properties of nodal lines, which are one-dimensional degeneracies in…
The simulation of fermionic relativistic physics, e.g., Dirac and Weyl physics, has led to the discovery of many unprecedented phenomena in photonics, of which the optical-frequency realization is, however, still challenging. Here, surprisingly, we discover that the woodpile photonic crystals commonly used for optical frequency applications host exotic fermion-like relativistic degeneracies: a Dirac nodal line and a fourfold quadratic point, as protected by the nonsymmorphic crystalline symmetry. Deforming the woodpile photonic crystal leads to the emergence of type-II Dirac points from the fo…
Metamaterials, artificially engineered materials consisting of subwavelength unit cell, have shown potentials in light manipulation with their extraordinary optical properties. Especially, topological metamaterials possessing topologically protected surface states enable extremely robust control of light. Here, we demonstrate extremely broadband topological phase in a photonic topological metamaterials with double helix structure. In particular topological surface states are observed for all the frequencies below a certain cut-off, originating from a double Weyl point at zero frequency. The ex…
Weyl fermions are hypothetical two-component massless relativistic particles in three-dimensional (3D) space, proposed by Hermann Weyl in 1929. Their band-crossing points, called 'Weyl points,' carry a topological charge and are therefore highly robust. There has been much excitement over recent observations of Weyl points in microwave photonic crystals and the semimetal TaAs. Here, we report on the first experimental observation of Weyl points of light at optical frequencies. These are also the first observations of 'type-II' Weyl points for photons, which have strictly positive group velocit…
Due to the large anomalous Hall effect, magnetic Weyl semimetals can support nonreciprocal surface plasmon polariton modes in the absence of an external magnetic field. This implies that magnetic Weyl semimetals can find novel application in (thermal) photonics. In this work, we consider the near-field radiative heat transfer between two magnetic Weyl semimetal slabs and show that the heat transfer can be controlled with a relative rotation of the parallel slabs. Thanks to the intrinsic nonreciprocity of the surface modes, this so-called twisting method does not require surface structuring lik…
Topological physics relies on the existence of Hamiltonian's eigenstate singularities carrying a topological charge, such as quantum vortices, Dirac points, Weyl points and -- in non-Hermitian systems -- exceptional points (EPs), lines or surfaces. They appear only in pairs connected by a Fermi arc and are related to a Hermitian singularity, such as a Dirac point. The annihilation of 2D Dirac points carrying opposite charges has been experimentally reported. It remained elusive for Weyl points and second order EPs terminating different Fermi arcs. Here, we observe the annihilation of second or…
Topological photonics has attracted increasing attention in recent years due to the unique opportunities it provides to manipulate light in a robust way immune to disorder and defects. Up to now, diverse photonic platforms, rich physical mechanisms and fruitful device applications have been proposed for topological photonics, including one-way waveguide, topological lasing, topological nanocavity, Dirac and Weyl points, Fermi arcs, nodal lines, etc. In this review, we provide an introduction to the field of topological photonics through the lens of topological invariants and bulk-boundary corr…
Compared to artificial metamaterials, where nano-fabrication complexities and finite-size inclusions can hamper the desired electromagnetic response, several natural materials like van der Waals crystals hold great promise for designing efficient nanophotonic devices in the optical range. Here, we investigate the unusual optical response of NiTe$_2$, a van der Waals crystal and a type-II Dirac semimetal hosting Lorentz-violating Dirac fermions. By {\it ab~initio~} density functional theory modeling, we show that NiTe$_2$ harbors multiple topological photonic regimes for evanescent waves (such …
Integrated entangled photon-pair sources are key elements for enabling large-scale quantum photonic solutions, and addresses the challenges of both scaling-up and stability. Here we report the first demonstration of an energy-time entangled photon-pair source based on spontaneous parametric down-conversion in silicon-based platform through an optically induced second-order ($χ^{(2)}$) nonlinearity, ensuring type-0 quasi-phase-matching of fundamental harmonic and its second-harmonic inside the waveguide. The developed source shows a coincidence-to-accidental ratio of 1635 at 8 of $μ$W pump powe…
While integrated photonics is a robust platform for quantum information processing, architectures for photonic quantum computing place stringent demands on high quality information carriers. Sources of single photons that are highly indistinguishable and pure, that are either near-deterministic or heralded with high efficiency, and that are suitable for mass-manufacture, have been elusive. Here, we demonstrate on-chip photon sources that simultaneously meet each of these requirements. Our photon sources are fabricated in silicon using mature processes, and exploit a novel dual-mode pump-delaye…
Soft materials can self-assemble into highly structured phases which replicate at the mesoscopic scale the symmetry of atomic crystals. As such, they offer an unparalleled platform to design mesostructured materials for light and sound. Here, we present a bottom-up approach based on self-assembly to engineer three-dimensional photonic and phononic crystals with topologically protected Weyl points. In addition to angular and frequency selectivity of their bulk optical response, Weyl materials are endowed with topological surface states, which allows for the existence of one-way channels even in…
In this paper, we show the photonic nanojet is the central bright maxima in focused near-field diffraction pattern. Using a simplified Huygens-Fresnel model, and using numerical simulations, we generate photonic nanojets from curved interfaces between media of different refractive indices and study the length, width, and peak intensity of the resultant photonic nanojet. We confirm that photonic nanojets are not sub-diffraction optical modes and are adequately described using diffraction theory. We also show how modifying the optogeometric environment can be used to tailor relevant features of …
Topological semimetals, representing a new topological phase that lacks a full bandgap in bulk states and exhibiting nontrivial topological orders, recently have been extended to photonic systems, predominantly in photonic crystals and to a lesser extent, metamaterials. Photonic crystal realizations of Dirac degeneracies are protected by various space symmetries, where Bloch modes span the spin and orbital subspaces. Here, we theoretically show that Dirac points can also be realized in effective media through the intrinsic degrees of freedom in electromagnetism under electromagnetic duality. A…
We discuss the necessary conditions for a two-level system in the presence of an isotropic band edge to be transparent to a probe laser field. The two-level atom is transparent whenever it is coupled to a reservoir constituted of two parts - a flat and a non-flat density of modes representing a PBG structure. A proposal on the reconstruction of the band edge profile from the experimentally measured susceptibility is also presented.
Planar nanophotonic structures enable broadband, near-unity coupling of emission from quantum dots embedded within, thereby realizing ideal singe-photon sources. The efficiency and coherence of the single-photon source is limited by charge noise, which results in the broadening of the emission spectrum.We report suppression of the noise by fabricating photonic crystal waveguides in a gallium arsenide membrane containing quantum dots embedded in a $p$-$i$-$n$ diode. Local electrical contacts in the vicinity of the waveguides minimize the leakage current and allow fast electrical control ($\appr…
Arrays of photonic cavities are relevant structures for developing large-scale photonic integrated circuits and for investigating basic quantum electrodynamics phenomena, due to the photon hopping between interacting nanoresonators. Here, we investigate, by means of scanning near-field spectroscopy, numerical calculations and an analytical model, the role of different neighboring interactions that give rise to delocalized supermodes in different photonic crystal array configurations. The systems under investigation consist of three nominally identical two-dimensional photonic crystal nanocavit…
