Type-II Dirac photons

Abstract

The Dirac equation for relativistic electron waves is the parent model for Weyl and Majorana fermions as well as topological insulators. Simulation of Dirac physics in three-dimensional photonic crystals, though fundamentally important for topological phenomena at optical frequencies, encounters the challenge of synthesis of both Kramers double degeneracy and parity inversion. Here we show how type-II Dirac points-exotic Dirac relativistic waves yet to be discovered-are robustly realized through the nonsymmorphic screw symmetry. The emergent type-II Dirac points carry nontrivial topology and are the mother states of type-II Weyl points. The proposed all-dielectric architecture enables robust cavity states at photonic-crystal-air interfaces and anomalous refraction, with very low energy dissipation.