Related papers: Liquid-crystal-based topological photonics

Topological photonics started out as a pursuit to engineer systems that mimic fermionic single-particle Hamiltonians with symmetry-protected modes, whose number can only change in spectral phase transitions such as band inversions. The…

We demonstrate facile optical manipulation of shape of birefringent colloidal microparticles made from liquid crystal elastomers. Using soft lithography and polymerization, we fabricate elastomeric microcylinders with weakly undulating…

The ability to dictate colloid motion is an important challenge in fields ranging from materials science to living systems. Here, by embedding energy landscapes in confined nematic liquid crystals, we design a versatile platform to define…

Vortex-carrying wave fields play a crucial role in photonics due to unusual propagation properties and interactions with matter, which enable numerous practical applications ranging from optical tweezers and imaging to information encoding…

The discovery of topological insulators has reformed modern materials science, promising to be a platform for tabletop relativistic physics, electronic transport without scattering, and stable quantum computation. Topological invariants are…

We introduce a class of optical media based on adiabatically modulated, dielectric-only, and potentially extremely low-loss, photonic crystals. The media we describe represent a generalization of the eikonal limit of transformation optics…

Photonic hyper-crystals combine the most interesting features of hyperbolic metamaterials and photonic crystals. Since the dispersion law of extraordinary photons in hyperbolic metamaterials does not exhibit the usual diffraction limit,…

Over the last few years, crystalline topology has been used in photonic crystals to realize edge- and corner-localized states that enhance light-matter interactions for potential device applications. However, the band-theoretic approaches…

Topological insulators are quantum materials that have an insulating bulk state and a topologically protected metallic surface state with spin and momentum helical locking and a Dirac-like band structure. Unique and fascinating electronic…

We introduce a new "universality class" of artificial optical media - photonic hyper-crystals. These hyperbolic metamaterials with periodic spatial variation of dielectric permittivity on subwavelength scale, combine the features of optical…

The control of light by light is one of the main aims in modern photonics. In this context, a fundamental cornerstone is the realization of light-written waveguides in real time, resulting in all-optical reconfigurability of communication…

Liquid crystals are assemblies of rod-like molecules which self-organize to form mesophases, in-between ordinary liquids and anisotropic crystals. At each point, the molecules collectively orient themselves along a privileged direction,…

We propose and show that application of light leads to an intriguing platform for controlling exceptional points in non-Hermitian topological systems. We demonstrate our proposal using three different non-Hermitian systems -- nodal line…

Optical microcavities have emerged as a powerful platform for emulating topological phases challenging to realize in conventional materials, offering precise control over dispersion, light confinement, and interactions. Among them, liquid…

Photomechanical liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are responsive polymers that can convert light directly into mechanical deformation. This unique feature makes these materials an attractive candidate for soft actuators capable of remote and…

Topological lasing leverages concepts from topological physics to achieve single-mode light amplification within topological bandgaps, offering robustness against fabrication imperfections. Recent advances in microelectromechanical systems…

Optical metamaterials and metasurfaces which emerged in the course of the last few decades have revolutionized our understanding of light and light-matter interaction. While solid materials are naturally employed as key building elements…

We present a general framework for the design of thin-film photovoltaics based on a partially-disordered photonic crystal that has both enhanced absorption for light trapping and reduced sensitivity to the angle and polarization of incident…

The process of self-assembly is guided by the minimization of free energy, which limits the symmetries available for assembly and ultimately the usefulness of devices fabricated in this fashion. Here, we demonstrate experimentally for the…

In recent years, there have been rapid advances in the parallel fields of electronic and photonic topological crystals. Topological photonic crystals in particular show promise for coherent transport of light and quantum information at…