Litcius/Paper detail

Spin-Polarized Fractional Corner Charges and Their Photonic Realization

Ran Gladstein Gladstone, Minwoo Jung, Gennady Shvets

2022Physical Review Letters24 citationsDOIOpen Access PDF

Abstract

We demonstrate that a spin degree of freedom can introduce additional texture to higher order topological insulators (HOTIs), manifesting in novel topological invariants and phase transitions. Spin-polarized mid-gap corner states of various multiplicities are predicted for different HOTI phases, and novel bulk-boundary correspondence principles are defined based on bulk invariants such as total and spin corner charge. Those are shown to be robust to spin-flipping perturbations. Photonic realizations of spin-linked topological phases are demonstrated in engineered systems using pseudospin.

Topics & Concepts

Realization (probability)PhysicsTopological insulatorPhotonicsTopology (electrical circuits)Spin (aerodynamics)Texture (cosmology)Phase (matter)Degrees of freedom (physics and chemistry)Geometric phaseQuantum mechanicsOrder (exchange)Theoretical physicsTopological orderInvariant (physics)Degree (music)FractalPhotonic crystalPhase transitionCondensed matter physicsTopological quantum numberTopological Materials and PhenomenaQuantum and electron transport phenomenaChemical and Physical Properties of Materials