Synthetic in-plane magnetic fields in topological plasmonic insulator with detachable identical meta-atoms

Synthetic magnetic fields of photons allow to emulate the behavior of electrons in real magnetic fields in photonic systems, providing unprecedented opportunity to explore novel optical phenomena and practical applications. Here, we propose a method for generating an in-plane pseudo-magnetic field by linearly modulating the rotation angle of identical meta-atoms. This approach induces the chiral zeroth Landau level, which is a one-way propagation bulk state with topological protection. Due to the detachable and rotatable characteristics of meta-atoms, we achieve robust propagation of the chiral bulk state and design a flexible Dirac waveguide through manipulating the rotation angle of the meta-atoms. Experimental tests are conducted to verify the transmission characteristics of the Dirac waveguide and chiral zeroth Landau modes. Our system offers a new pathway for realizing the chiral Landau levels in optical metasurfaces with identical meta-atoms and enables the control of a pseudo-magnetic field. Without breaking the time-reversal symmetry with real magnetic fields, our proposed structure has potential for designing integrated photonic devices and may enable further exploration of intriguing physical phenomena through flexible control of the synthetic magnetic field.