Tunable Topological Beam Splitter in Superconducting Circuit Lattice

Abstract

In the usual Su–Schrieffer–Heeger (SSH) model with an even number of lattice sites, the topological pumping between left and right edge states cannot be easily realized since the edge states occupy two-end sites simultaneously. Here we propose a scheme to investigate the topological edge pumping in an even-sized periodically modulated SSH model mapped by a one dimensional superconducting transmission line resonators array. We find that the photon initially prepared in the first resonator can be finally observed at the two-end resonators with a certain proportion. The final photon splitting at the two-end resonators indicates that the present superconducting circuit is expected to realize the topological beam splitter. Further, we demonstrate that the splitting proportion between the two-end resonators can be arbitrarily tuned from 1 to 0, implying the potential feasibility of implementing the tunable topological beam splitter. Meanwhile, we also show that the tunable topological beam splitter is immune to the mild disorder added into the system due to the topology protection of the zero energy modes, and find that the tunable topological beam splitter is much more robust to the global on-site disorder compared with the nearest neighbor disorder. Our work greatly extends the practical application of topological matter in quantum information processing and opens up a new way towards the engineering of topological quantum optical device.