Self-localized states in photonic topological insulators.
We propose solitons in a photonic topological insulator: self-localized wave packets forming topological edge states residing in the bulk of a nonlinear photonic topological insulator. These self-forming entities exhibit, despite being in the bulk, the property of unidirectional transport, similar to the transport their linear counterparts display on the edge of a topological insulator. In the concrete case of a Floquet topological insulator, such a soliton forms when a wave packet induces, through nonlinearity, a defect region in a honeycomb lattice of helical optical waveguides, and at the same time the wave packet populates a continuously rotating outer (or inner) edge state of that region. The concept is universal and applicable to topological systems with nonlinear response or mean-field interactions.
Physics Department and the Solid State Institute, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel.
Yaakov
Y
Lumer
Physics Department and the Solid State Institute, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel.
Yonatan
Y
Plotnik
Physics Department and the Solid State Institute, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel.
Mikael C
MC
Rechtsman
Physics Department and the Solid State Institute, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel.
Mordechai
M
Segev