Reconfigurable Light Imaging in Photonic Higher-Order Topological Insulators

Topological phases of matter with robust edge states have revolutionized the fundamental intuitions for wave control. The recent development of higher-order topological insulators (HOTIs) realizes even lower dimensional topological states that enable versatile wave manipulations (e.g., light imaging). However, in conventional HOTIs, the topological states are usually protected by certain crystalline symmetries and therefore bounded at specific locations, hindering their applications in modern digital ears, which often prefer tunability and reconfigurability. Here, we report the reconfigurable light imaging based on topological corner states and anti-chiral edge states in a two-dimensional (2D) photonic HOTI with a honeycomb lattice of yttrium iron garnet (YIG, a ferrite material) rods. Sublattices A and B are applied with magnetic fields in opposite directions, which realize the so-called modified Haldane model that hosts anti-chiral edge modes. By further breaking the lattice's inversion symmetry via adjusting the radii of A and B rods, topological edge states with valley degrees of freedom emerge, which not only exhibit valley-dependence but also surprisingly show anti-chiral behaviors. In the valley edge gap, which is of nontrivial higher-order topology, corner states appear. With different combinations of corner states and anti-chiral edge states, versatile reconfigurable light imaging can be realized. As examples, a multiplexing waveguide-resonator device, a pine tree imaging that can be lit up or put out at will and selective imaging for partial objects in a two-heart pattern are demonstrated. The proposed HOTI shows high potential in future intelligent devices with exciting tunable and reconfigurable functions, which may inspire a wide range of applications such as topological switching, imaging processing, and nonreciprocal integrated photonics.