Topology-optimized dual-polarization Dirac cones

We apply a large-scale computational technique, known as topology optimization, to the inverse design of photonic Dirac cones. In particular, we report on a variety of photonic crystal geometries, realizable in simple isotropic dielectric materials, which exhibit dual-polarization Dirac cones. We present photonic crystals of different symmetry types, such as fourfold and sixfold rotational symmetries, with Dirac cones at different points within the Brillouin zone. The demonstrated and related optimization techniques open avenues to band-structure engineering and manipulating the propagation of light in periodic media, with possible applications to exotic optical phenomena such as effective zero-index media and topological photonics.