Robust multichannel bulk transport in a time-reversal-invariant insulator-free photonic waveguide array
Abstract
Ultracompact cladding-free waveguide arrays with zero inter-channel spacing and negligible crosstalk open a new avenue for high-density integrated photonic circuits. However, existing cladding-free waveguide arrays typically rely on conventional trivial bulk modes, making them highly susceptible to scattering losses at sharp bends or in the presence of obstacles and defects. To overcome this limitation, we theoretically propose and experimentally demonstrate a robust, crosstalk-free, and cladding-free photonic waveguide array based on chiral anomaly bulk states (CABSs) in photonic crystals. By interfacing distinct Dirac photonic crystals that host Dirac cones at different high-symmetry points (Γ and K) in the Brillouin zone and carefully engineering the boundary conditions, the boundary-induced CABSs in adjacent channels become effectively decoupled due to a large momentum separation, thereby eliminating inter-channel crosstalk. More importantly, we experimentally demonstrate that these crosstalk-free CABSs are robust to perturbations, including metallic obstacles, air defects, and sharp bends. We further extend the CABS-based waveguide array to two dimensions and demonstrate a cladding-free triangular resonator and a crosstalk-free waveguide crossing, both of which are previously unattainable. Our work establishes a new design paradigm for cladding-free, crosstalk-free, and ultracompact topological photonic devices, paving the way for robust, highly integrated photonic circuits.
Related
- Type-II quantum spin Hall insulator without time-reversal symmetry
- Hall conductance in a weakly time-reversal invariant open system
- The Ericson Transition in Time-Reversal Invariant Systems: Symplectically Invariant Hamiltonians
- The Ericson Transition in Time-Reversal Invariant Systems: Orthogonally Invariant Hamiltonians
- Time-Reversal-Invariant Altermagnetic Acoustic Crystals
BibTeX
@misc{wei2026robust,
title = {{Robust multichannel bulk transport in a time-reversal-invariant insulator-free photonic waveguide array}},
author = {Guochao Wei and Yingfeng Qi and Kang Du and Wei Zhu and Zhenzhen Liu and Junjun Xiao and Shengxiang Wang and Zhen Gao},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2605.17717},
eprint = {2605.17717},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.17717},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Robust multichannel bulk transport in a time-reversal-invariant insulator-free photonic waveguide array
AU - Guochao Wei
AU - Yingfeng Qi
AU - Kang Du
AU - Wei Zhu
AU - Zhenzhen Liu
AU - Junjun Xiao
AU - Shengxiang Wang
AU - Zhen Gao
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/23
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2605.17717
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.17717
AB - Ultracompact cladding-free waveguide arrays with zero inter-channel spacing and negligible crosstalk open a new avenue for high-density integrated photonic circuits. However, existing cladding-free waveguide arrays typically rely on conventional trivial bulk modes, making them highly susceptible to scattering losses at sharp bends or in the presence of obstacles and defects. To overcome this limitation, we theoretically propose and experimentally demonstrate a robust, crosstalk-free, and cladding-free photonic waveguide array based on chiral anomaly bulk states (CABSs) in photonic crystals. By interfacing distinct Dirac photonic crystals that host Dirac cones at different high-symmetry points (Γ and K) in the Brillouin zone and carefully engineering the boundary conditions, the boundary-induced CABSs in adjacent channels become effectively decoupled due to a large momentum separation, thereby eliminating inter-channel crosstalk. More importantly, we experimentally demonstrate that these crosstalk-free CABSs are robust to perturbations, including metallic obstacles, air defects, and sharp bends. We further extend the CABS-based waveguide array to two dimensions and demonstrate a cladding-free triangular resonator and a crosstalk-free waveguide crossing, both of which are previously unattainable. Our work establishes a new design paradigm for cladding-free, crosstalk-free, and ultracompact topological photonic devices, paving the way for robust, highly integrated photonic circuits.
ER -