On-chip single-photon chirality encircling exceptional points

Abstract

Exceptional points (EPs), which are typically defined as the degeneracy points of a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian, have been investigated in various physical systems such as photonic systems. In particular, the intriguing topological structures around EPs have given rise to novel strategies for manipulating photons and the underlying mechanism is especially useful for on-chip photonic applications. Although some on-chip experiments with the adoption of lasers have been reported, EP-based photonic chips working in the quantum regime largely remain elusive. In the current work, a single-photon experiment was proposed to dynamically encircle an EP in on-chip photonic waveguides possessing passive anti-parity-time symmetry. Photon coincidences measurement reveals a chiral feature of transporting single photons, which can act as a building block for on-chip quantum devices that require asymmetric transmissions. The findings in the current work pave the way for on-chip experimental study on the physics of EPs as well as inspiring applications for on-chip non-Hermitian quantum devices.