Optoelectronic devices, plasmonics, and photonics with topological insulators

Topological insulators are innovative materials with semiconducting bulk together with surface states forming a Dirac cone, which ensure metallic conduction in the surface plane. Therefore, topological insulators represent an ideal platform for opto-electronics and photonics. The recent progress of science and technology based on topological insulators enables the exploitation of their huge application capabilities. Here, we review the recent achievements of optoelectronics, photonics, and plasmonics with topological insulators. Plasmonic devices and photodetectors based on topological insulators in a wide energy range, from terahertz to the ultraviolet, promise outstanding impact. Furthermore, the peculiarities, the range of applications, and the challenges of the emerging fields of topological photonics and thermo-plasmonics are discussed. (C) 2017 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license