Double gyroid photonic crystal: synthesis and mid-infrared photonic characterization

Gyroids are triply symmetric and have surfaces containing no straight lines. Single gyroid (SG) photonic crystals have a large band gap, while double gyroids (DG) with P-breaking symmetry possess Weyl points and topologically non-trivial surface states. These topologically protected states give rise to backscattering immune unidirectional transport. We have synthesized and characterized the first mid-IR gyroid photonic crystals, including both SGs and DGs with Weyl points. Polymer gyroid scaffold was written by DLW, followed by ALD of Al$_{\mathrm{2}}$O$_{\mathrm{3}}$, polymer removal and conformally coating of a-Si. The resulting DGs have Weyl points at 8 $\mu$ m and k between 0.3-0.5$\pi $/a. Characterization of SG and DG have been performed by angle resolved mid-IR spectroscopy. The photonic bandstructure is constructed from angle resolved reflectance and transmittance spectra, all the way close to the light line. Constructed bandstructures from SGs exhibit a photonic bandgap. For DGs the bandstructures reveal defect photonic states emerging inside the bandgap. Strategies to observe protected surface states in DGs will be discussed.