The current understanding of topological insulators and their classical wave analogs, such as photonic topological insulators, is mainly based on topological band theory. Contrary to this, Scientists in China and Singapore experimentally showed photonic topological insulators based on glass-like amorphous phases, for which the bandstructure is ill-defined. The persistence of topological protection is also found to be closely related to the glass-to-liquid transition. This interplay between topology and amorphousness paves the way for new classes of non-crystalline topological photonic bandgap materials.
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Source: Phys.org