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.