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Updated: Jan 22, 2026

Quantum State Engineering of Light with Continuous-wave Optical Parametric Oscillators
Published on: May 30, 2014
Anomalous Quantum Hall Effect of Light in Bloch-Wave Modulated Photonic Crystals
Kejie Fang1,2, Yunkai Wang2,3
1Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
Abstract:
Effective magnetic fields have enabled unprecedented manipulation of neutral particles including photons. In most studied cases, the effective gauge fields are defined through the phase of mode coupling between spatially discrete elements, such as optical resonators and waveguides in the case for photons. Here, in the paradigm of Bloch-wave modulated photonic crystals, we show the creation of effective magnetic fields for photons in conventional dielectric continua for the first time, via Floquet band engineering. By controlling the phase and wave vector of Bloch waves, we demonstrated the anomalous quantum Hall effect for light with distinct topological band features due to delocalized wave interference. Based on a cavity-free architecture, in which Bloch-wave modulations can be enhanced using guided resonances in photonic crystals, the study here opens the door to the realization of effective magnetic fields at large scales for optical beam steering and topological light-matter phases with broken time-reversal symmetry.
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