Abstract

The introduction of non-Hermiticity into photonics has enabled new design principles for photonic devices. Here we propose the design of a tunable non-Hermitian on-chip mode converter working at telecommunication wavelengths. The key component of the converter is a phase change material, and switching its working state can enable a topological change in the energy surface of the system. The conversion functionality can be realized by dynamically encircling an exceptional point in the parameter space of the device. The device based on this non-Hermitian principle is robust to perturbations of structural parameters and works in broadband. The non-Hermitian principle can be applied for the design of more complex on-chip photonic devices.

© 2020 Optical Society of America

Selecting mode by the complex Berry phase in non-Hermitian waveguide lattices

Lingzhi Zheng, Bing Wang, Chengzhi Qin, Lange Zhao, Shuyue Chen, Weiwei Liu, and Peixiang Lu
Opt. Lett. 49(6) 1603-1606 (2024)

Nonreciprocal topological mode conversion by encircling an exceptional point in dynamic waveguides

Qingjie Liu, Tiantian Wang, Quan Lei, Dong Zhao, and Shaolin Ke
Opt. Lett. 48(15) 4089-4092 (2023)

Stochastic non-Hermitian skin effect

Stefano Longhi
Opt. Lett. 45(18) 5250-5253 (2020)

Controlling the directional excitation of surface plasmon polaritons using tunable non-Hermitian metasurfaces

Guohao Zhang, Jiaqing Liu, Daxing Dong, Changdong Chen, Youwen Liu, and Yangyang Fu
Opt. Lett. 48(16) 4296-4299 (2023)

Broadband nonvolatile photonic switching based on optical phase change materials: beyond the classical figure-of-merit

Qihang Zhang, Yifei Zhang, Junying Li, Richard Soref, Tian Gu, and Juejun Hu
Opt. Lett. 43(1) 94-97 (2018)