Broadband and fabrication-tolerant 3-dB couplers with topological valley edge modes.

ABSTRACT: 3-dB couplers, which are commonly used in photonic integrated circuits for on-chip information processing, precision measurement, and quantum computing, face challenges in achieving robust performance due to their limited 3-dB bandwidths and sensitivity to fabrication errors. To address this, we introduce topological physics to nanophotonics, developing a framework for topological 3-dB couplers. These couplers exhibit broad working wavelength range and robustness against fabrication dimensional errors. By leveraging valley-Hall topology and mirror symmetry, the photonic-crystal-slab couplers achieve ideal 3-dB splitting characterized by a wavelength-insensitive scattering matrix. Tolerance analysis confirms the superiority on broad bandwidth of 48 nm and robust splitting against dimensiona

SUBMITTER: Tang GJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11250792 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature