Nonreciprocity and topology in dynamically modulated photonic systems
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- The propagation of light in linear, time-independent and non-magnetic media is governed by Lorentz reciprocity. As a result, nonreciprocal optical devices such as isolators and one-way waveguides traditionally rely on magneto-optical materials, which are hard to incorporate in an integrated photonics platform. Dynamic modulation of the refractive index breaks Lorentz reciprocity, and provides a CMOS-compatible and reconfigurable approach to optical nonreciprocity. Moreover, dynamically modulated photonic systems also provide a versatile platform for studying photonic topological states that support robust unidirectional photonic transport. Dynamic modulation also enables one to explore the synthetic dimension associated with the frequency axis in certain photonic resonator systems. With a synthetic dimension, one can access higher dimensional physics in a lower dimensional photonic structure. In this dissertation, we theoretically and numerically explore a rich set of nonreciprocal and topological photonic effects associated with dynamically modulated optical waveguides and resonators. Potential experimental realizations of our proposals are also discussed and evaluated. In the first part of this dissertation, I show that the phase of dynamic modulation creates an effective gauge field for photons, which is analogous to the vector potential for electrons in the sense that they both impart a direction-dependent propagation phase on the particles. Such a gauge field enables the creation of nonreciprocal photonic devices such as dynamic optical isolators and gauge-field one-way waveguides, as well as the realization of photonic quantum Hall effect in a nonreciprocal waveguide network. These results illustrate the power of the effective gauge field in manipulating the propagation of electromagnetic wave and enabling new designs for nonreciprocal photonic elements. In the second half of this dissertation, I show that the set of optical resonances supported in a ring resonator forms a synthetic dimension along the frequency axis, with dynamic modulation controlling the coupling between modes along the synthetic dimension. This synthetic dimension enables the realization of three-dimensional physics in a planar photonic structure, bypassing the complex three-dimensional geometries required by previous studies. I will demonstrate the creation of three-dimensional topological insulators and Weyl points in a two-dimensional array of ring resonators, which paves the way for experimental demonstration of three-dimensional topological effects that are difficult to study in other systems.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2018 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Lin, Qian |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Applied Physics. |
| Primary advisor | Fan, Shanhui, 1972- |
| Thesis advisor | Fan, Shanhui, 1972- |
| Thesis advisor | Digonnet, Michel J. F |
| Thesis advisor | Schleier-Smith, Monika |
| Advisor | Digonnet, Michel J. F |
| Advisor | Schleier-Smith, Monika |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Qian Lin. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Applied Physics. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2018. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2018 by Qian Lin
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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