Photonic topological transition in dimerized chains with the joint modulation of near-field and far-field couplings

Topological systems containing near-field or far-field couplings between unit cells have been widely investigated in quantum and classic systems. Their band structures are well explained with theories based on tight-binding or multiple scattering formalism. However, characteristics of the topology of the bulk bands based on the joint modulation of near-field and far-field couplings are rarely studied. Such hybrid systems are hardly realized in real systems and cannot be described by neither tight-binding nor multiple scattering theories. Here, we propose a hybrid-coupling photonic topological insulator based on a quasi-1D dimerized chain with the coexistence of near-field coupling within the unit cell and far-field coupling among all sites. Both theoretical and experimental results show that topological transition is realized by introducing near-field coupling for given far-field coupling conditions. In addition to closing and reopening the bandgap, the change in near-field coupling modulates the effective mass of photonics in the upper band from positive to negative, leading to an indirect bandgap, which cannot be achieved in conventional dimerized chains with either far-field or near-field coupling only. (C) 2021 Chinese Laser Press