Topological Photonics Workshop 2022 (TopoPhoto2022)

During the past decades, the state of the art in the field of Materials Science has been profoundly leaded by the discovery of topological insulators and the subsequent understanding of topological materials.

Topological insulators are very special materials which behave as insulators in their interior, but that can support conducting states on their surface. These “surface states” are symmetry protected, meaning that, defects in the material cannot destroy them easily. On top of that, these topological edge states are generally protected against backscattering. This last feature implies that if energy (or information) is flowing in one particular direction through the surface of a topological insulator, it will continue flowing in that particular path even if it finds obstacles on its way. The study of the exotic properties of these novel materials is an incredibly interesting area of research in basic science and could facilitate fantastic engineering applications.

Topological states of matter were first discovered in the field of solid-state physics but recent contributions are proving their existence in diverse physical platforms. To mention a few, topological surface states have been recently identified in the fields of optics, acoustics and in excitonic and polaritonic materials.

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE:

Aitzol Garcia-Etxarri, DIPC, Donostia

Paloma Arroyo Huidobro, Instituto de Telecomunicaçoes, Lisbon, Portugal