Probing and harnessing photonic Fermi arc surface states using light-matter interactions

Abstract

Fermi arcs, i.e., surface states connecting topologically distinct Weyl points, represent a paradigmatic manifestation of the topological aspects of Weyl physics. We investigate a light-matter interface based on the photonic counterpart of these states and prove that it can lead to phenomena with no analog in other setups. First, we show how to image the Fermi arcs by studying the spontaneous decay of one or many emitters coupled to the system’s border. Second, we demonstrate that, exploiting the negative refraction of these modes, the Fermi arc surface states can act as a robust quantum link, enabling, e.g., the occurrence of perfect quantum state transfer between the considered emitters or the formation of highly entangled states. In addition to their fundamental interest, our findings evidence the potential offered by the photonic Fermi arc light-matter interfaces for the design of more robust quantum technologies.