Topological edge and corner states in biphenylene photonic crystal

Abstract

The biphenylene network (BPN) has a unique two-dimensional atomic structure, where hexagonal unit cells are arranged on a square lattice. Inspired by such a BPN structure, we design a counterpart in the fashion of photonic crystals (PhCs), which we refer to as the BPN PhC. We study the photonic band structure using the finite element method and characterize the topological properties of the BPN PhC through the use of the Wilson loop. Our findings reveal the emergence of topological edge states in the BPN PhC, specifically in the zigzag edge and the chiral edge, as a consequence of the nontrivial Zak phase in the corresponding directions. In addition, we find the localization of electromagnetic waves at the corners formed by the chiral edges, which can be considered as second-order topological states, i.e., topological corner states.