Topological photonics is currently one of the most active research areas in optics and also one of the spearheads of research in topological physics at large. We are now more than a decade after it started. Topological photonics has already proved itself as an excellent platform for experimenting with concepts imported from condensed matter physics. But more importantly, topological photonics has also triggered new fundamental ideas of its own and has offered exciting applications that could become real technologies in the near future. The concepts of topological photonics will be presented, along with its most important aspect: topological insulator lasers. |
