Near-field coupling between topological corner states

Abstract

In this Letter, we investigate the near-field coupling between topological corner states. As a proof of concept, we build a higher-order topological photonic structure with a square lattice, based on the 2D Su–Schrieffer–Heeger (SSH) model. It is demonstrated that the topological corner state can be hosted at a corner via engineering its two boundaries, whereupon the near-field coupling between two corner states is investigated by bringing them close together. Numerical and theoretical results show that the near-field coupling between two corner states results in hybridized local resonances and significant enhancement of density of states, which are similar to the plasmonic resonances and Mie resonances. Moreover, the extraordinary advantage of the coupled corner states is verified via enhancing third-harmonic generation. Our results may provide insight into studying topological photonics with multimodes as well as an effective approach for manipulation of light.