Axion topology in photonic crystal domain walls.

ABSTRACT: Axion insulators are 3D magnetic topological insulators supporting hinge states and quantized magnetoelectric effects, recently proposed for detecting dark-matter axionic particles via their axionic excitations. Beyond theoretical interest, obtaining a photonic counterpart of axion insulators offers potential for advancing magnetically-tunable photonic devices and axion haloscopes based on axion-photon conversion. This work proposes an axionic 3D phase within a photonic setup. By building inversion-symmetric domain-walls in gyrotropic photonic crystals, we bind chiral modes on inversion-related hinges, ultimately leading to the realization of an axionic channel of light. These states propagate embedded in a 3D structure, thus protected from radiation in the continuum. Employing a small ext

SUBMITTER: Devescovi C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11316128 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature