Photonic topological insulators supporting unidirectional topologically protected edge states represent an attractive platform for the realization of disorder‐ and backscattering‐immune transport of edge excitations in both linear and nonlinear regimes. While the properties of the edge states at unclosed interfaces of two bulk media with different topologies are known, the existence of edge states in practical finite‐dimensional topological insulators fully immersed in a nontopological environment remains largely unexplored. In this work, using realistic polariton topological insulators built from small‐size honeycomb arrays of microcavity pillars as an example, it is shown how topological properties of the system build up upon gradual increase of its dimensionality. To account for the dissipative nature of the polariton condensate forming in the array of microcavity pillars, the impact of losses and resonant pump leading to rich bistability effects in this system is considered. The mechanism is described in accordance with which trivial‐phase pump “selects” and excites specific nonlinear topological edge states circulating along the periphery of the structure in the azimuthal direction, dictated by the direction of the external applied magnetic field. The possibility of utilization of vortex pump with different topological charges for selective excitation of different edge currents is also shown.

中文翻译：

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有限尺寸的双稳态拓扑绝缘体：从小到大

支持单向拓扑保护边缘状态的光子拓扑绝缘体为在线性和非线性两种情况下实现边缘激发的无序和反向散射免疫传输提供了一个有吸引力的平台。尽管已知两种具有不同拓扑结构的散装介质的未封闭界面处的边缘状态的特性，但在很大程度上浸没在非拓扑环境中的实际有限维拓扑绝缘子中，边缘状态的存在仍未得到充分探索。在这项工作中，以由微腔支柱的小型蜂窝状阵列构建的逼真的极化子拓扑绝缘体为例，它说明了系统的拓扑特性是如何随着其尺寸的逐渐增加而建立的。为了解决微腔支柱阵列中形成的极化子冷凝物的耗散特性，需要考虑损耗和共振泵的影响，从而在该系统中产生丰富的双稳态效应。对此机制进行了描述，根据这些机制，琐相泵“选择”并激发了沿外部结构沿外围方向沿结构外围循环的特定非线性拓扑边缘状态，该状态由外部施加的磁场的方向决定。还显示了利用具有不同拓扑电荷的涡流泵选择性激发不同边沿电流的可能性。对此机制进行了描述，根据这些机制，琐相泵“选择”并激发了沿外部结构沿外围方向沿结构外围循环的特定非线性拓扑边缘状态，该状态由外部施加的磁场的方向决定。还显示了利用具有不同拓扑电荷的涡流泵选择性激发不同边沿电流的可能性。对此机制进行了描述，根据这些机制，琐相泵“选择”并激发了沿外部结构沿外围方向沿结构外围循环的特定非线性拓扑边缘状态，该状态由外部施加的磁场的方向决定。还显示了利用具有不同拓扑电荷的涡流泵选择性激发不同边沿电流的可能性。