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Topologically enabled ultrahigh-Q guided resonances robust to out-of-plane scattering

Abstract

Because of their ability to confine light, optical resonators1,2,3 are of great importance to science and technology, but their performance is often limited by out-of-plane-scattering losses caused by inevitable fabrication imperfections4,5. Here we theoretically propose and experimentally demonstrate a class of guided resonances in photonic crystal slabs, in which out-of-plane-scattering losses are strongly suppressed by their topological nature. These resonances arise when multiple bound states in the continuum—each carrying a topological charge6—merge in momentum space and enhance the quality factors Q of all nearby resonances in the same band. Using such resonances in the telecommunication regime, we experimentally achieve quality factors as high as 4.9 × 105—12 times higher than those obtained with standard designs—and this enhancement remains robust for all of our samples. Our work paves the way for future explorations of topological photonics in systems with open boundary conditions and for their application to the improvement of optoelectronic devices in photonic integrated circuits.

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Fig. 1: Suppressing radiation losses by merging multiple topological charges.
Fig. 2: Topological protection against scattering losses.
Fig. 3: Experimental setup.
Fig. 4: Experimental results.
Fig. 5: 12-fold enhancement of Q via topological protection.

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Data availability

The data that support the plots in this paper and other findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank C. W. Hsu for discussions. We also thank L. Zhang from Tsinghua University and W. Liu from the Institute of Semiconductors for assistance in the preparation of the device. C.P. was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under grant number 61575002. B.Z. was supported by the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research under award number FA9550-18-1-0133, by the US National Science Foundation through grant DMR-1838412 and by the Army Research Office under grant number W911NF-19-1-0087. The research was sponsored in part by the Army Research Office under Cooperative Agreement number W911NF-18-2-0048.

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J.J., X.Y., L.N. and C.P. conceived the idea. J.J., X.Y., C.P., B.Z. and M.S. performed the theoretical study. J.J., X.Y., L.N. and C.P. performed the analytical calculations and numerical simulations. J.J. and X.Y. conducted the experiments and analysed the data. J.J., C.P. and B.Z. wrote the manuscript, with input from all authors. C.P. supervised the research. All authors discussed the results.

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Correspondence to Chao Peng.

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This file contains Supplementary Text and Data Sections 1–8, Supplementary References and Supplementary Figures 1–9.

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Jin, J., Yin, X., Ni, L. et al. Topologically enabled ultrahigh-Q guided resonances robust to out-of-plane scattering. Nature 574, 501–504 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1664-7

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