Voigt Exceptional Points in an Anisotropic ZnO-Based Planar Microcavity: Square-Root Topology, Polarization Vortices, and Circularity

Steffen Richter, Heinrich-Gregor Zirnstein, Jesús Zúñiga-Pérez, Evgeny Krüger, Christiane Deparis, Lukas Trefflich, Chris Sturm, Bernd Rosenow, Marius Grundmann, and Rüdiger Schmidt-Grund
Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 227401 – Published 26 November 2019
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Abstract

Voigt points represent propagation directions in anisotropic crystals along which optical modes degenerate, leading to a single circularly polarized eigenmode. They are a particular class of exceptional points. Here, we report the fabrication and characterization of a dielectric, anisotropic optical microcavity based on nonpolar ZnO that implements a non-Hermitian system and mimics the behavior of Voigt points in natural crystals. We prove the exceptional-point nature by monitoring the complex-square-root topology of the mode eigenenergies (real and imaginary parts) around the Voigt points. Polarization state analysis shows that these artificially engineered Voigt points behave as vortex cores for the linear polarization and sustain chiral modes. Our findings apply to any planar microcavity with broken cylindrical symmetry and, thus, pave the way for exploiting exceptional points in widespread optoelectronic devices such as vertical cavity surface emitting lasers and resonant cavity light emitting diodes.

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  • Received 28 October 2018

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.227401

© 2019 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied PhysicsAtomic, Molecular & OpticalQuantum Information, Science & Technology

Authors & Affiliations

Steffen Richter1,2,*, Heinrich-Gregor Zirnstein3, Jesús Zúñiga-Pérez4, Evgeny Krüger1, Christiane Deparis4, Lukas Trefflich1, Chris Sturm1, Bernd Rosenow3, Marius Grundmann1, and Rüdiger Schmidt-Grund1,5

  • 1Universität Leipzig, Felix-Bloch-Institut für Festkörperphysik, Linnéstraße 5, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
  • 2ELI Beamlines/Fyzikální ústav AV ČR, Za Radnicí 835, 25241 Dolní Břežany, Czech Republic
  • 3Universität Leipzig, Institut für Theoretische Physik, Brüderstraße 16, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
  • 4Université Côte d’Azur, CRHEA-CNRS, rue Bernard Grégory, 06560 Valbonne, France
  • 5Technische Universität Ilmenau, Institut für Physik, Weimarer Straße 32, 98693 Ilmenau, Germany

  • *steffen.richter@eli-beams.eu

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Issue

Vol. 123, Iss. 22 — 29 November 2019

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