English

Using Topological Photon Chips to Uncover the Secrets of Open Systems

1086
2024-02-02 18:08:02
See translation

Conservation of energy is a fundamental concept in physics that can be used to explain anything from planetary orbits to the internal workings of individual atoms.

Energy can be converted into other forms, but the overall energy level is usually considered to vary over time. Therefore, when attempting to describe a system, physicists usually pay attention to ensuring that it is isolated from the surrounding environment.

However, if the energy gain and loss are distributed in an orderly manner, so that they cancel each other out in all possible situations, the dynamics of the system can also be stable. This can be ensured through a phenomenon called parity check time symmetry.

All components of the system are carefully arranged to exchange the gain and loss of light through simultaneous mirroring and time reversal, making the system appear unchanged, just like a video played backwards and simultaneously reflected in a mirror, but looking exactly the same as the original video, which means it is PT symmetric.

PT symmetry is not just an academic concept; On the contrary, it opens the door to a more thorough understanding of open systems.

Professor Alexander Szameit from Rostock University specializes in studying interesting physical phenomena related to PT symmetry. Laser can replicate the behavior of artificial and natural materials arranged in periodic lattice structures in their customized photonic chips, making them an excellent platform for testing various physical theories.

Therefore, Professor Szameit and his colleagues successfully integrated the ideas of topology and PT symmetry. Topology is the study of properties that remain unchanged even when the underlying system is constantly deformed. When a system possesses these qualities, it becomes particularly resistant to external influences.

Szameit's team used laser engraved photonic waveguides in their experiments, which are optical structures etched into materials by laser beams.

In these "optical circuits," so-called topological insulators are implemented.
So far, people believe that open systems and this powerful boundary state are fundamentally incompatible. Researchers from Rostock, Vilzburg, and Indianapolis have jointly demonstrated that it is possible to address the apparent paradox by dynamically allocating benefits and losses over time.

These findings may pave the way for the development of new cutting-edge circuits for transmitting sound, light, and even electricity. These findings also represent significant advances in the understanding of topological insulators and open systems.

This study was funded by the German Research Foundation and supported by the Alfred Krupp von Boren and the Halbach Foundation.

Source: Laser Net


Related Recommendations
  • Progress in research on neodymium doped strontium aluminate lanthanum magnesium laser crystals by Shanghai Optics and Machinery Institute

    Recently, the Advanced Laser and Optoelectronic Functional Materials Department of the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has made progress in the research of Nd: ASL (Sr0.7Nd0.05La0.25Mg0.3Al22.7O19) laser crystals, and the related achievements were published in Infrared Physics&Technology under the title of "Tunable laser operations on Nd doped cont...

    2024-03-19
    See translation
  • Brother launches a series of color LED laser printers for homes and offices

    Brother is an innovative global company that proudly launches its latest series of color LED laser printers. The new printer series is colorful and seamlessly connected, designed specifically for home and small office environments.The company's latest product aims to improve productivity in home and small business environments, combining excellent printing quality with excellent printing speed. Ea...

    2024-03-20
    See translation
  • Europe builds an independent supply chain for Alexander laser crystals for space missions and atmospheric research

    Recently, companies from Lithuania, Italy, and Germany have reached a new milestone in the European independent space mission - based on the Galactic project, they have developed a supply chain for Alexandrite laser crystals in Europe to study changes in the atmosphere and Earth's surface.The high-power Alexander laser crystals and coatings developed in the GALACTIC project will be used to collect...

    2023-12-22
    See translation
  • Laser technology reveals hidden gases in complex mixtures

    Laser Network reported on January 11th that modern equipment has been fine tuned to detect highly specific gases, including trace gases found in the atmosphere, gases present in combustion exhaust emissions, and gases used in technology plasma applications.They achieve this by calculating the percentage of light at a certain wavelength that is absorbed or attenuated by the sample. This way, the co...

    2024-01-11
    See translation
  • Redefining optical limits: Engineers discover enhanced nonlinear optical properties in 2D materials

    Recently, according to a paper published in Nature Communications titled "Phonoenhanced nonlinearities in hexagonal boron nitride," engineers from Columbia University collaborated with theoretical experts from the Max Planck Institute of Material Structure and Dynamics to discover that pairing lasers with lattice vibrations can improve the nonlinear optical properties of layered two-dimensional ma...

    2024-02-23
    See translation