Observation of Antichiral Hinge States in a Three-dimensional Gyromagnetic Photonic Crystal

Abstract Recent advances in topological physics have revealed a counterintuitive class of antichiral edge and surface states that propagate in the same direction along spatially separated parallel boundaries. To date, however, experimental realizations of antichiral states have been restricted to first-order topological phases, while their higher-order counterparts—antichiral hinge states—have remained experimentally elusive. Here, we report the first experimental observation of antichiral hinge states in a gyromagnetic photonic crystal that realizes a three-dimensional modified Haldane model with dimerized interlayer coupling. Through microwave near-field mapping, we directly resolve their defining signatures: nonreciprocal, co-propagating transport along four parallel hinges and characteristically tilted hinge-state dispersions. These results extend antichiral topology into the higher-order regime and establish a versatile platform for three-dimensional nonreciprocal topological photonic devices.