Tight-binding couplings in microwave artificial graphene

Overview & Synopsis

We experimentally study the propagation of microwaves in an artificial honeycomb lattice made of dielectric resonators. This evanescent propagation is well described by a tight-binding model, very much like the propagation of electrons in graphene. We measure the density of states, as well as the wave function associated to each eigenfrequency. By changing the distance between the resonators, it is possible to modulate the amplitude of next-(next)-nearest-neighbors hopping parameters and to study their effect on the density of states. The main effect is the density of states becoming dissymmetric and a shift of the energy of the Dirac points. We study the basic elements: an isolated resonator, a two-level system and a square lattice. Our observations are in good agreement with analytical solutions for corresponding infinite lattice.