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New type of optical circulator
Abstract: Resonator-based optical circulators are fundamentally bandwidth-limited by their quality factors. We propose a new type of circulator based on directional coupling between one-way photonic chiral edge states and conventional two-way waveguides. This means that if light enters port 1 it is emitted from port 2, but if some of the emitted light is reflected back to the circulator, it does not come out of port 1 but. An optical circulator is a non-reciprocal device that directs light signals sequentially between multiple ports. You can think of it as a traffic controller for light, ensuring signals flow in one direction without interference.