Photonic Cyclic Orbit Bound to a Single Weyl Point

Area of Science:

• Topological photonics
• Condensed matter physics
• Quantum optics

Background:

• Weyl orbits are topologically protected trajectories in momentum space, crucial for quantum oscillations in condensed matter.
• Photonic analogs of Weyl orbits are challenging to realize due to difficulties in generating global pseudomagnetic fields.

Purpose of the Study:

• To overcome limitations in creating photonic Weyl orbits.
• To engineer a novel photonic cyclic orbit (PCO) bound to a single Weyl point.
• To experimentally demonstrate photonic Weyl orbits and their associated quantum phenomena.

Main Methods:

• Engineering a pseudomagnetic field domain wall to create a localized pseudomagnetic field.
• Utilizing Weyl points and Fermi arcs in a photonic system.
• Observing photonic resonances and real-space PCO states.

Main Results:

• Demonstration of a novel photonic cyclic orbit (PCO) linked to a single Weyl point.
• Observation of a photonic analog of quantum oscillations, appearing as discrete photonic resonances.
• Identification of PCO states, including Fermi-arc surface states and chiral zero modes.

Conclusions:

• The study establishes a new paradigm for topological cyclic orbits in photonics.
• The engineered pseudomagnetic field domain wall enables practical pathways for 3D light manipulation.
• Definitive experimental evidence for photonic Weyl orbits has been provided.