Isotropic topological second-order spatial differentiator operating in transmission mode

Abstract

Differentiation has widespread applications, particularly in image processing for edge detection. Significant advances have been made in using nanophotonic structures and metamaterials to perform such operations. In particular, a recent work demonstrated a topological differentiator in which the transfer function exhibited a topological charge, making the differentiation operation robust to variations in operating conditions. The demonstrated topological differentiator, however, operates in reflection mode at off-normal incidence and is difficult to integrate into compact imaging systems. In this work, we design a topological differentiator that operates isotropically in transmission mode at normal incidence. The device exhibits an optical transfer function with a symmetry-protected topological charge of ± 2 and performs second-order differentiation. Our work points to the potential of harnessing topological concepts for optical computing applications.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Jun 30, 2021
Source ID
10.1364/ol.430699

Entities

People

  • Cheng Guo
  • Haiwen Wang
  • Olivia Y. Long
  • Shanhui Fan

Organizations

  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research
  • National Science Foundation
  • Office of Naval Research
  • Stanford University
  • United States Department of Defense

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Aerospace Propulsion Engineering.
  • Calculus or Mathematical Analysis
  • Quantum Dot Semiconductor Device Photonics and Graphene Optoelectronic Materials and THz Physics.

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Microelectronics - Graphene