Chinese Optics Letters, Volume. 23, Issue 10, (2025)
Topological micro-/nano- structures for tailoring light [Early Posting]
The rapid advancement of topological photonics has opened up a promising frontier for manipulating optical fields. Among various emerging strategies, topological micro-/nano-structures have garnered growing interest, offering enhanced robustness to photonic devices and providing a compact platform for tailoring multiple physical dimensions of optical fields. In this paper, we summarize recent advances in topological micro-/nano-structures for tailoring light. We begin with an introduction to the fundamental concepts of topology, topological photonics, topological micro-/nano-structures, and multidimensional photonics. We then highlight representative works, including gain/loss structures based on the exceptional points, on-chip topological array waveguides, boundary state waveguides, valley photonic crystal waveguides, and micro-/nano-scale devices based on bound states in the continuum. Finally, we discuss future challenges and opportunities in light field manipulation using topological micro-/nano-structures.