Bo Zhen is a physicist at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Arts & Sciences. His contributions to the field of photonics have been truly groundbreaking. Since 2018, Zhen and his team have been dedicated to developing a revolutionary system that guides light through tiny crystals. Their novel approach affords photons a remarkable ability to steer freely, unaffected by features like defects, bumps and rough edges.
As fortune would have it, the postdoctoral researcher, Li He, soon joined Zhen’s lab and injected new energy and ideas to the project. They have even created a “secret tunnel” just for the photons. This would enable a rail beam to move seamlessly from point A to point B with no stops or obstructions in between. This breakthrough represents a paradigm shift with the potential to revolutionize fundamental and applied applications across optics and quantum technologies.
Overcoming Challenges in Development
The path to design this innovative system wasn’t an easy one. When Bo Zhen made that order at the beginning of 2020, he was placing the orders just as COVID-19 was beginning to appear in Europe. The pandemic closed national borders and disrupted global supply chains, which added additional delays and complications. Zhen recalls, “For a while, it felt like everything that could go wrong did.”
Despite these setbacks, Zhen’s team persevered. Even they met unforeseen logistical hurdles, like when they received the delivery of one laser in 12 different boxes. Unfortunately for us, only six of those wide boxes made it onto the delivery truck. Their tenacity was well-rewarded. There, they brilliantly created a system that pipes polarized light through a photonic crystal, a digital-looking semiconductor with an exact pattern of holes.
Zhen and his coworkers had more control over the photonic crystal’s properties. As fate would have it, this pursuit motivated them to realize a robust topological state with Chern number C=1. This unique feature creates an unobstructed, one-way pathway for light that ultimately improves the accuracy and efficiency of photon travel.
Exploring New Frontiers in Photonics
Riding high on the momentum of their early work, Bo Zhen’s team is currently expanding the scope of their research into three-dimensional crystals. They hope to be able to scale their discoveries to microwave frequencies, where components are much larger and thus easier to manufacture and manipulate. This significant expansion finally brings into reach a wide variety of practical innovative commercial applications such as advanced quantum computing and quantum communication technologies.
Additionally, Zhen’s research may result in new strategies for protecting fragile quantum states of light. Protecting the purity of these states is extremely important. It has been indispensable in propelling forward quantum technologies that require the unique properties of superpositioned light. As Zhen explains, “We’ve demonstrated that it can be done,” setting the stage for even bigger breakthroughs to come in this space.
Zhen works closely with Eugene Mele, another physicist at Penn. Together, they highlight the versatility of their approach by realizing a Floquet Chern insulator in a driven nonlinear photonic crystal. This groundbreaking approach could produce the long-sought-after optical isolators that do not require the heavy magnets. It could pave the way for lasers that produce light in just one forward-facing direction.
Implications for Future Technological Advances
The progress achieved by Bo Zhen and his team on these issues are a bellwether for great innovation to come, but certainly just the beginning. Specifically, they’re designing chips that can bend light through one direction when there’s a defect. This innovation has the potential to greatly improve the quality and reliability of optical devices. This technology could revolutionize communication systems by reducing errors caused by reflections and other disruptions.
Zhen envisions a future where their discoveries could be integrated into everyday optical devices, making them more efficient and easier to manage. The ramifications extend well beyond pure science. They promise greater real-world applicability in everything from telecommunications to medical imaging to quantum computing.