On-chip higher-order topological micromechanical metamaterials

Abstract

Higher-order topological insulators exhibit multidimensional topological physics and unique application values due to their ability of integrating stable boundary states at multiple dimensions in a single chip. However, for signal-processing applications in high-frequency mechanical systems, the current realizations of higher-order topological mechanical materials are still limited to large-scale systems for kilohertz or lower frequencies. Here, we report the experimental observation of a on-chip micromechanical metamaterial as higher-order topological insulator for high-frequency mechanical waves. The higher-order topological phononic band gap is induced by the band inversion at the Brillouin zone corner which is achieved by configuring the orientations of the elliptic pillars etched on the silicon chip. With consistent experiments and theory, we demonstrate the coexistence of topological edge and corner states in the megahertz frequency regime as induced by the higher-order band topology. The experimental realization of on-chip micromechanical metamaterials with higher-order topology opens a regime for applications based on megahertz mechanical waves in an integrated platform where the edge and corner states act as stable waveguides and resonators, respectively.

5 pages, 4 figures

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• Higher-order topological phases in crystalline and non-crystalline systems: a review
• Acoustic corner states in topological insulators with built-in Zeeman-like fields
• Uncovering and experimental realization of multimodal 3D topological metamaterials for low-frequency and multiband elastic wave control
• Dirac cones and higher-order topology in quasi-continuous media
• Observation of emergent Dirac physics at the surfaces of acoustic higher-order topological insulators
• Observation of Dual-band Topological Corner Modes in Acoustic Kagome Lattice with Long-range Interactions
• Topological Wannier cycles for the bulk and edges