Topological Light Matter Interactions

For many decades, physicists relied on the notion of symmetry breaking to distinguish different phases of matter. However, it has been recently shown that topology provides a universal way to classify matter based on topological phases. The discovery of the topological phase of matter has revolutionized the understanding of solid-state physics. Their main hallmark is the appearance of edge states which are robust to backscattering at the interface between two materials of different topological phases (see figure below).

Recently, the concept of topology has been translated into the domain of photonics: topological photonics, with a grand vision to achieve robust and dissipation less transport of photons. We aim to study the interplay of topological light-matter interaction by combining topological edge states with a broad range of matter excitations such as excitons and phonons. Also, we are interested in integrating solid-state topological material systems with engineered photonic systems for realizing novel photonic devices.