Topological Insulator Laser Using Valley-Hall Photonic Crystals

Abstract: Topological photonics has recently been proved a robust framework for manipulating light. Active topological photonic systems, in particular, enable richer fundamental physics by employing nonlinear light-matter interactions, thereby opening a new landscape for applications such as topological lasing. Here we report an all-dielectric topological insulator laser scheme based on semiconductor cavities formed by topologically distinct Kagome photonic crystals. The proposed planar semiconductor Kagome lattice allows broadband edge states below the light line due to photonic valley hall effect in telecommunication region, which provides a new route to retrieve nontrivial photonic topology and to develop integrated topological systems for robust light generation and transport.