Stephan Wong

Overview

Photonic topological insulators are one of the most innovative and promising areas of physics in recent years. The distinguishing feature of topological phases is that they support no propagating modes in its bulk for a given frequency range, also known as photonic band gap, but however, support topologically protected surface modes robust against fabrication imperfections, sharp edges, and environmental changes such as temperature fluctuations. The light propagates unidirectionally without being scattered.

The aim of my PhD project is to find such a non-trivial topological photonic structure and to investigate light-matter interactions in semiconductor topological insulators. This will include the theoretical study on quantum emitters, dynamical effect of gain and nonlinear effect in a non-trivial topological photonic structure.

A first attempt will be to understand the physics on an abstract level, namely looking at the symmetry and the topology of photonic structures including waveguides, cavities, and laser for the design of semiconductor topological laser devices, as well as using a group theoretical approach or developing analytical models to design topological lasers. The theory will then be validated by the use of numerical methods or commercial software (Lumerical FDTDSolutions, MPB, etc.).