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Observation of Topologically Protected Edge States in a Photonic Two-Dimensional Quantum Walk
Chao Chen1,2, Xing Ding1,2, Jian Qin1,2
1Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale and Department of Modern Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Shanghai Branch, Shanghai 201315, China.
Abstract:
Periodically driven systems have displayed a variety of fascinating phenomena without analogies in static systems, which enrich the classification of quantum phases of matter and stimulate a wide range of research interests. Here, we employ discrete-time quantum walks to investigate a nontrivial topological effect unique to a two-dimensional periodically driven system: chiral edge states can exist at the interface of Floquet insulators whose Chern numbers vanish. Thanks to a resource-saving and flexible fiber-loop architecture, we realize inhomogeneous two-dimensional quantum walks up to 25 steps, over an effective 51×51 lattice with tunable local parameters. Spin-polarized chiral edge states are observed at the boundary of two distinct quantum walk domains. Our results contribute to establishing a well-controlled platform for exploring nontrivial topological phases.
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