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Realizing effective magnetic field for photons by controlling the phase of dynamic modulation

Nature Photonics volume 6, pages 782–787 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

The goal to achieve arbitrary control of photon flow has motivated much of the recent research on photonic crystals and metamaterials. As a new mechanism for controlling photon flow, we introduce a scheme that generates an effective magnetic field for photons. We consider a resonator lattice in which the coupling constants between the resonators are harmonically modulated in time. With appropriate choice of the spatial distribution of the modulation phases, an effective magnetic field for photons can be created, leading to a Lorentz force for photons and the emergence of topologically protected one-way photon edge states that are robust against disorders—without the use of magneto-optical effects.

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Figure 1: Dynamically modulated photonic resonator lattice exhibiting an effective magnetic field for photons.
Figure 2: Photon motion in an effective magnetic field.
Figure 3: Photonic one-way edge mode in a dynamically modulated resonator lattice.
Figure 4: Dynamic coupling between photonic-crystal resonators.
Figure 5: Realization of dynamic coupling between resonators in the microwave regime.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research (grant no. FA9550-09-1-0704) and the US National Science Foundation (grant no. ECCS-1201914).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, 94305, California, USA

    Kejie Fang

  2. Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, 94305, California, USA

    Zongfu Yu & Shanhui Fan

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  1. Kejie Fang
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  2. Zongfu Yu
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  3. Shanhui Fan
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Contributions

K.F. conceived the mechanism for achieving an effective magnetic field and performed the calculations. All authors contributed to the design of the study, discussion of the results and writing of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shanhui Fan.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Fang, K., Yu, Z. & Fan, S. Realizing effective magnetic field for photons by controlling the phase of dynamic modulation. Nature Photon 6, 782–787 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2012.236

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