Inverse design of higher-order photonic topological insulators

Abstract

Topological photonics revolutionizes some of the traditional approaches to light propagation and manipulation, and it provides unprecedented means for developing novel photonic devices. Recently discovered higher-order topological phases go beyond the conventional bulk-edge correspondence for photonic crystals and introduce novel opportunities for topological protection. Here, we introduce an intelligent numerical approach for inverse design of higher-order photonic topological insulators with great flexibility for controlling both topological edge and topological corner states. In particular, we consider the second-order photonic topological insulator and design several structures supporting both edge and corner states at different frequencies. By carefully programming these structures, we suggest a novel approach for topological routing of the edge and corner states by changing the operational frequency. Our finding paves the way to integrated topological photonic devices with novel functionalities.