Collaborative Research: Investigation of Rotation-Time and Inversion-Time Symmetries in Photonic Materials

非技术描述：这个合作研究项目的目标是战略性地利用光损耗来展示具有非常规光学特性的新型光子材料。该研究可能为具有独特和高度可调光学特性的新一代复杂光子器件奠定坚实的基础，并提供更好地理解它们与量子力学，数学物理和材料科学的联系。从实用的角度来看，在最先进的光子学技术中展示的新型光学功能可以显著影响快速增长的光通信和计算领域，包括激光器、放大器、调制器和探测器。该研究与两所机构的教育活动很好地结合在一起，例如为本科生和研究生提供尖端科学和技术研究体验，以及促进K-12学生和弱势群体的兴趣和参与的教育推广活动。技术描述：本研究项目的主要重点是研究一种量子机制启发的方法，通过采用各种对称范式，包括旋转时间、反转时间和奇偶时间对称性及其组合，来实现新型非厄米光子材料。具体来说，这个合作研究项目是探索高维光子材料中的旋转-时间和反转-时间对称性，从而完成涉及时间反转和点群（例如旋转和反转）的反线性对称族。该项目利用主要研究人员在光学理论和先进纳米制造方面的互补专业知识来设计和制造不同对称的新型芯片级集成光子材料。研究了相应的反射、透射和散射光学性质，以表征不同的量子相和相关的相变。研究了描述整个非厄米对称族的统一群论。本研究中的新型光子材料有望在控制光输运和光谐振模式方面提供独特的光学功能，从而实现新一代光子器件。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Non-Technical Description: The objective of this collaborative research project is to strategically utilize optical losses to demonstrate novel photonic materials with unconventional optical properties. The study may lay a solid foundation for a new generation of sophisticated photonic devices with unique and highly tunable optical properties, as well as provide a better understanding of their connection to quantum mechanics, mathematical physics, and materials science. From the practical point-of-view, the demonstrated novel optical functionalities in the state-of-the-art photonics technology can significantly impact the fast-growing areas of optical communications and computing, including lasers, amplifiers, modulators and detectors. The research is well integrated with the educational activities at both institutions, such as cutting-edge science and technology research experiences for undergraduate and graduate students, and educational outreach activities to promote the interests and participations of K-12 students and underrepresented groups.Technical Description: The primary focus of this research project is to investigate a quantum-mechanism inspired approach to realize novel non-Hermitian photonic materials by employing a variety of symmetry paradigms, including rotation-time, inversion-time, and parity-time symmetries as well as their combinations. Specifically, this collaborative research project is to explore rotation-time and inversion-time symmetries in higher dimensional photonic materials, which completes the anti-linear symmetry families that involve time reversal and a point group (e.g., rotation and inversion). The project utilizes the principal investigators' complementary expertise in optics theory and advanced nanofabrication to design and fabricate novel chip-scale integrated photonic materials of different symmetries. The corresponding optical properties in reflection, transmission and scattering are investigated to characterize different quantum phases and the associated phase transition. A unified group theory is studied to describe the entire non-Hermitian symmetry families. The novel photonic materials in this study are expected to offer unique optical functionalities in the control of light transport and optical resonant modes, thus enabling a new generation of photonic devices.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.