Continuous evolution of Fermi arcs in a minimal ideal photonic Weyl medium

Abstract

Abstract Propagation properties of electromagnetic waves in an optical medium are mainly determined by the contour of equal-frequency states in $${\boldsymbol{k}}$$ k -space. In photonic Weyl media, the topological surface waves lead to a unique open arc of the equal-frequency contour, called the Fermi arc. However, for most realistic Weyl systems, the shape of Fermi arcs is fixed due to the constant impedance of the surrounding medium, making it difficult to manipulate the surface wave. Here we demonstrate that by adjusting the thickness of the air layer sandwiched between two photonic Weyl media, the shape of the Fermi arc can be continuously changed from convex to concave. Moreover, we show that the concave Fermi-arc waves can be used to achieve topologically protected electromagnetic pulling forces over a broad range of angles in the air layer. Our finding offers a generally applicable strategy to shape the Fermi arc in photonic Weyl media.