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arXiv:2604.02364

Topological Anderson Random Laser

Hang-Zheng Shen, Xian-Hao Wei, Xi-Wang Luo, Zheng-Wei Zhou

physics.opticsquant-phSubmitted Mar 22, 2026• Announced Mar 24, 2026
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Topological lasers and random lasers embody two contrasting strategies for disorder management in photonics: the former suppresses disorder via protected edge transport, while the latter exploits multiple scattering for feedback. Here, we theoretically demonstrate that these seemingly incompatible paradigms can be unified through a topological Anderson random laser (TARL), where disorder itself induces a topological phase that enables robust lasing. Starting from a trivial photonic lattice, we show that engineered disorder drives the system into a topological Anderson insulator regime, generating emergent chiral edge states that serve as boundary-selective lasing channels. Remarkably, the TARL exhibits rapid mode selection toward a single edge state, producing an ultranarrow emission spectrum and enhanced slope efficiency optimized near disorder strength with maximal topological mobility gap. Furthermore, they exhibit single-mode-like coherence properties, deviating from Kardar-Parisi-Zhang behavior in conventional chiral topological lasers, while remaining significantly more robust against local perturbations than conventional random lasers. Our findings establish a disorder-enabled flexible route to topologically protected single-mode lasing and introduce a fundamentally new design principle for robust, high-coherence photonic light sources.

Comments
7 pages, 6 figures, with 5 page supplementary information

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Topological lasers and random lasers embody two contrasting strategies for disorder management in photonics: the former suppresses disorder via protected edge transport, while the latter exploits multiple scattering for feedback. Here, we theoretically demonstrate that these seemingly incompatible paradigms can be unified through a topological Anderson random laser (TARL), where disorder itself induces a topological phase that enables robust lasing. Starting from a trivial photonic lattice, we show that engineered disorder drives the system into a topological Anderson insulator regime, generating emergent chiral edge states that serve as boundary-selective lasing channels. Remarkably, the TARL exhibits rapid mode selection toward a single edge state, producing an ultranarrow emission spectrum and enhanced slope efficiency optimized near disorder strength with maximal topological mobility gap. Furthermore, they exhibit single-mode-like coherence properties, deviating from Kardar-Parisi-Zhang behavior in conventional chiral topological lasers, while remaining significantly more robust against local perturbations than conventional random lasers. Our findings establish a disorder-enabled flexible route to topologically protected single-mode lasing and introduce a fundamentally new design principle for robust, high-coherence photonic light sources.
Topological insulators combine insulating properties in the bulk with scattering-free transport along edges, supporting dissipationless unidirectional energy and information flow even in the presence of defects and disorder. The feasibility of engineering quantum Hamiltonians with photonic tools, combined with the availability of entangled photons, raises the intriguing possibility of employing topologically protected entangled states in optical quantum computing and information processing. However, while two-photon states built as a product of two topologically protected single-photon states inherit full protection from their single-photon "parents", high degree of non-separability may lead to rapid deterioration of the two-photon states after propagation through disorder. We identify physical mechanisms which contribute to the vulnerability of entangled states in topological photonic lattices and present clear guidelines for maximizing entanglement without sacrificing topological protection.
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We investigate one-dimensional (1D) discrete-time quantum walks (QWs) with spatially or temporally random defects as a consequence of interactions with random environments. We focus on the QWs with chiral symmetry in a topological phase, and reveal that chiral symmetry together with the bipartite nature of the QWs brings about intriguing behaviors such as coexistence of topologically protected edge states at zero energy and Anderson transitions in the 1D chiral class at nonzero energy in their dynamics. In contrast to results of previous studies, therefore, the spatially disordered QWs can avoid complete localization due to the Anderson transition. It is further confirmed that the edge states are robust to spatial disorder but not to temporal disorder.
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Topology and disorder have a rich combined influence on quantum transport. To probe their interplay, we synthesized one-dimensional chiral symmetric wires with controllable disorder via spectroscopic Hamiltonian engineering, based on the laser-driven coupling of discrete momentum states of ultracold atoms. Measuring the bulk evolution of a topological indicator after a sudden quench, we observed the topological Anderson insulator phase, in which added disorder drives the band structure of a wire from topologically trivial to nontrivial. In addition, we observed the robustness of topologically nontrivial wires to weak disorder and measured the transition to a trivial phase in the presence of strong disorder. Atomic interactions in this quantum simulation platform may enable realizations of strongly interacting topological fluids.