Edge states in plasmonic meta-arrays

Photonic edge states provide a novel platform to control and enhance light-matter interactions. Recently, it becomes increasing popular to generate such localized states using the bulk-edge correspondence of topological photonic crystals. While the topological approach is elegant, the design and fabrication of these complex photonic topological crystals is tedious. Here, we report a simple and effective strategy to construct and steer photonic edge state in a plasmonic meta-array, which just requires a small number of plasmonic nanoparticles to form a simple lattice. To demonstrate the idea, different lattice configurations, including square, triangular, and honeycomb lattices of meta-arrays, are fabricated and measured by using an ultrahigh spatial resolution photoemission electron microscopy. The properties of edge states depend on the geometric details such as the row and column number of the lattice, as well as the gap distance between the particles. Moreover, numerical simulations show that the excited edge states can be used for the generation of the quantum entanglement. This work not only provides a new platform for the study of nanoscale photonic devices, but also open a new way for the fundamental study of nanophotonics based on edge states.