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Photonic insulators with a twist

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Using a hexagonal array of helical waveguides, physicists have observed robust optical waves that move in one direction, bypassing obstacles and imperfections exactly as predicted by the theory of topological insulators. See Letter p.196

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Figure 1: A photonic analogue of a Floquet topological insulator.

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Correspondence to Yidong Chong.

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Chong, Y. Photonic insulators with a twist. Nature 496, 173–174 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/496173a

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