Towards four-dimensional photonics

Abstract

Recent advances in silicon ring-resonator arrays have stimulated the development of topological lattices for photons, with potential applications in integrated photonic devices. Taking inspiration from ultracold atoms, we propose how such arrays can be extended into an additional synthetic dimension by coupling together the different modes of each ring resonator.1 In this way, a 1D resonator chain can become an effective 2D system, while a 3D resonator array can be exploited as a 4D photonic lattice. As an example of the power of this approach, we discuss how to experimentally realise an optical analogue of the 4D quantum Hall effect for the first time. This opens up the way towards the exploration of higher-dimensional lattices in integrated photonics.