{"id":83826,"date":"2013-04-11T12:29:17","date_gmt":"2013-04-11T09:29:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.technion.ac.il\/blog\/israeli-scientists-develop-first-photonic-topological-insulators-to-provide-protection-for-transport-of-light\/"},"modified":"2013-04-11T12:29:17","modified_gmt":"2013-04-11T09:29:17","slug":"israeli-scientists-develop-first-photonic-topological-insulators-to-provide-protection-for-transport-of-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.technion.ac.il\/en\/blog\/israeli-scientists-develop-first-photonic-topological-insulators-to-provide-protection-for-transport-of-light\/","title":{"rendered":"Israeli scientists develop first photonic topological insulators to provide protection for transport of light"},"content":{"rendered":"

Researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have developed and successfully demonstrated a photonic topological insulator, a new device used to protect the transport of light through a unique, lattice of \u2018waveguides\u2019. The advancement may play a key role in the photonics industry. A description of the advancement was published in the current issue of NATURE.<\/em><\/p>\n

The photonics industry is at the heart of modern computing and communication.\u00a0 It has allowed vast amounts of data to be transmitted extremely quickly over fiber optic lines that cross the oceans.\u00a0 Photonic technology (i.e., technology that is based on the flow and control of light) is at the heart of DVDs, fabrication of computer chips, and solar cells.<\/p>\n

As computers get faster and computer chips get denser, there is a need for smaller and smaller devices that manipulate light.\u00a0 But when devices get smaller, imperfections in the fabrication processes can play a large role, making light move irregularly and unpredictably.\u00a0 In other words, there\u2019s a need for a new methodology to prevent unwanted scattering from any kind of defect.<\/p>\n

Researchers at group of Prof. Mordechai (Moti) Segev at the Technion, in collaboration with the group of Prof. Alex Szameit at the Friedrich-Schiller University in Jena, Germany, have done exactly that.\u00a0 Using a lattice-work of \u2018waveguides\u2019 (which are like wires that guide light instead of electricity), the researchers have experimentally demonstrated a \u2018photonic topological insulator.\u2019\u00a0 The researchers used an array of helical \u2018waveguides\u2019 (shaped like curly hairs) arranged in a \u2018honeycomb\u2019 lattice structure, similar to the pattern observed in beehives.\u00a0 In such a structure, where each waveguide is thinner than a tenth of a human hair, light is \u2018topologically protected,\u2019 which means it flows uninterrupted despite the presence of defects.<\/p>\n

According to Professor Segev, \u201ctopological protection means that light simply flows around imperfections essentially without noticing them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Topological protection was first conceived not for light, but for electrons flowing in a solid material.\u00a0 However, Dr. Mikael Rechtsman and Mr. Yonatan Plotnik from the Technion, figured out how to bring topological protection into photonics, using an array of waveguides that interact with one another.\u00a0 The additional step needed to achieve topological protection was to make the waveguides helical (in the shape of a helix), rather than straight.\u00a0 \u201cThe helical nature of the waveguides breaks the symmetry, so that in the forward direction the waveguides are spinning clockwise, and in the backward direction, counterclockwise,\u201c said Dr. Rechtsman.\u00a0 \u201cIn our procedure, this is an essential ingredient in preventing unwanted scattering.\u201c<\/p>\n

\u201cPhotonic topological insulators have the potential to provide an entirely new platform for probing and understanding topological protection,\u201d explained Rechtsman. \u201cFor example, all sorts of experiments that would be difficult or impossible to carry out in solid-state materials can now be accessed using light.\u201d \u201cAlso\u201d, added Plotnik, \u201csuch new ideas might one day be an important part of the optical communication industry, being robust to scattering and disturbances: a super conductor of light\u201d. \u201cThis discovery is another step in the progress towards optical and quantum computing\u201d said Julia Zeuner, the graduate student at Friedrich-Schiller University in Jena, who fabricated the sophisticated photonic structure and did part of the experiments. Her contribution, as well as the contribution of her PhD advisor, Prof. Szameit, was absolutely crucial, and manifested a long standing Israeli-German collaboration between the teams. \u00a0\u201cWe have discovered a completely novel phenomena\u201d, concluded Professor Segev, \u201cand new phenomenon are destined to find applications in directions that we can\u2019t even imagine\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have developed and successfully demonstrated a photonic topological insulator, a new device used to protect the transport of light through a unique, lattice of \u2018waveguides\u2019. The advancement may play a key role in the photonics industry. A description of the advancement was published in the current issue of… Continue Reading Israeli scientists develop first photonic topological insulators to provide protection for transport of light<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIsraeli scientists develop first photonic topological insulators to provide protection for transport of light - \u05d4\u05d8\u05db\u05e0\u05d9\u05d5\u05df-\u05de\u05db\u05d5\u05df \u05d8\u05db\u05e0\u05d5\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d9 \u05dc\u05d9\u05e9\u05e8\u05d0\u05dc<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.technion.ac.il\/en\/blog\/israeli-scientists-develop-first-photonic-topological-insulators-to-provide-protection-for-transport-of-light\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Israeli scientists develop first photonic topological insulators to provide protection for transport of light - \u05d4\u05d8\u05db\u05e0\u05d9\u05d5\u05df-\u05de\u05db\u05d5\u05df \u05d8\u05db\u05e0\u05d5\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d9 \u05dc\u05d9\u05e9\u05e8\u05d0\u05dc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have developed and successfully demonstrated a photonic topological insulator, a new device used to protect the transport of light through a unique, lattice of \u2018waveguides\u2019. 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