Photonic Jackiw-Rebbi states in all-dielectric structures controlled by bianisotropy

Abstract: Electric and magnetic resonances of dielectric particles have recently uncovered a range of exciting applications in steering of light at the nanoscale. Breaking of particle inversion symmetry further modifies its electromagnetic response giving rise to bianisotropy known also as magneto-electric coupling. Recent studies suggest the crucial role of magneto-electric coupling in realization of photonic topological metamaterials. To further unmask this fundamental link, we design and test experimentally one-dimensional array composed of dielectric particles with overlapping electric and magnetic resonances and broken mirror symmetry. Flipping over half of the meta-atoms in the array, we observe the emergence of interface states providing photonic realization of the celebrated Jackiw-Rebbi model. We trace the origin of these states to the fact that local modification of particle bianisotropic response affects its effective coupling with the neighboring meta-atoms which provides a promising avenue to engineer topological states of light.