Photonic half-semimetals with dual semimetal-insulator topology

Abstract

Topological wave systems have largely evolved along two distinct paradigms: gapless topological semimetals and gapped topological insulators. While topological semimetals support bulk transport, they generally lack intrinsic selectivity among propagation channels; topological insulators enable robust transport but confine it to narrow interfaces, limiting spatial utilization. Here, we theoretically demonstrate and experimentally realize time-reversal-invariant spin-valley photonic half-semimetals (HSMs), which exhibit a dual semimetal-insulator topology within a single bulk band structure. In HSMs, the bandgap closes selectively in spin-valley space: for a given spin (valley), one valley (spin) is semimetallic while the other remains insulating. This coexistence of spin- and valley-resolved gapless and gapped band structures makes HSMs fundamentally distinct from both conventional semimetals and insulators. As a defining bulk phenomenon, an HSM functions as a spin-valley-locked beam splitter, intrinsically enabling valley-selective spin routing. Moreover, when four complementary HSMs are assembled into a periodic superlattice, the same dual topology enables reciprocal spin-valley-resolved multilane helical transport with 100% spatial utilization. These results establish HSMs as a platform for selective bulk wave control and multichannel topological transport beyond conventional topological phases.