Effect of photonic spin-orbit coupling on the topological edge modes of a Su-Schrieffer-Heeger chain

Abstract

Micropillar lattices offer exciting prospects for the field of topological photonics. Confinement in flexible geometries with configurable pseudospins such as the intrinsic TE-TM splitting allows for the engineering of photonic bands with nontrivial topologies. In this work, the authors study experimentally the influence of the photonic spin-orbit coupling present in microcavities on the topological edge modes of a Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model for photons using one-dimensional zigzag chains of micropillars. The findings open a route to manipulation of topological states in photonic lattices.