Liquid crystals are complex fluids that allow exquisite control of light propagation thanks to their orientational order and optical anisotropy. Inspired by recent advances in liquid-crystal photo-patterning technology, we propose a soft-matter platform for assembling topological photonic materials that holds promise for protected unidirectional waveguides, sensors, and lasers. Crucial to our approach is to use spatial variations in the orientation of the nematic liquid-crystal molecules to emulate the time modulations needed in a so-called Floquet topological insulator. The varying orientation of the nematic director introduces a geometric phase that rotates the local optical axes. In conjunction with suitably designed structural properties, this geometric phase leads to the creation of topologically protected states of light. We propose and analyze in detail soft photonic realizations of two iconic topological systems: a Su–Schrieffer–Heeger chain and a Chern insulator. The use of soft building blocks potentially allows for reconfigurable systems that exploit the interplay between topological states of light and the underlying responsive medium.

液晶是复杂的流体，由于它们的取向顺序和光学各向异性，可以精确控制光的传播。受液晶光图案技术最新进展的启发，我们提出了一种用于组装拓扑光子材料的软物质平台，该平台有望用于受保护的单向波导、传感器和激光器。我们的方法的关键是使用向列液晶分子方向的空间变化来模拟所谓的 Floquet 拓扑绝缘体所需的时间调制。向列导向器的不同方向引入了旋转局部光轴的几何相位。结合适当设计的结构特性，这个几何阶段导致创建拓扑保护的光状态。我们提出并详细分析了两个标志性拓扑系统的软光子实现：Su-Schrieffer-Heeger 链和 Chern 绝缘体。软构建块的使用可能允许可重构系统利用光的拓扑状态和底层响应介质之间的相互作用。