Topological Photonics — One-Way Edge Channel Lab

Lattice configuration

One-way edge channel: the pulse ignores defects placed on its path.

Pulse

Speed 1.0

Click any ring on the boundary loop to place or remove a defect scatterer.

Readout

Mode

Topological

Defects

Loops completed

Transmission

100%

How it works

The lattice is a grid of coupled ring resonators — a synthetic photonic crystal. In the topological configuration the boundary rings host a chiral edge channel: light can only circulate one way around the perimeter, and there is no available mode for it to scatter into going the other way, so it slides past defect rings untouched. Switch to trivial and the same defects now have a backward-going mode to couple into, so the pulse reflects and loses energy at every scatterer.

Topological / Trivial — same lattice geometry, different protection. Only the response to defects changes.
Defects — click a boundary ring to mark it as a fabrication imperfection; click again to remove it.
Transmission — energy remaining in the pulse; drops on every backscatter event in trivial mode, stays at 100% when topologically protected.

Edge channel Bulk lattice Defect Light pulse

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