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Topological on-chip photonics based on tailored photonic crystals (PhC) thatemulate quantum valley Hall effects has recently gained widespread interest dueto its promise of robust unidirectional transport of classical and quantuminformation. We present a direct quantitative evaluation of topologicalphotonic edge eigenstates and their transport properties in the telecomwavelength range using phase-resolved near-field optical microscopy.Experimentally visualizing the detailed sub-wavelength structure of these modespropagating along the interface between two topologically non-trivialmirror-symmetric lattices allows us to map their dispersion relation anddifferentiate between the contributions of several higher-order Blochharmonics. Selective probing of forward and backward propagating modes asdefined by their phase velocities enables a direct quantification oftopological robustness. Studying near-field propagation in controlled defectsallows to extract upper limits to topological protection in on-chip photonicsystems in comparison to conventional PhC waveguides. We find that protectededge states are two orders of magnitude more robust as compared to conventionalPhC waveguides. This direct experimental quantification of topologicalrobustness comprises a crucial step towards the application of topologicallyprotected guiding in integrated photonics, allowing for unprecedentederror-free photonic quantum networks.

Direct quantification of topological protection in symmetry-protected photonic edge states at telecom wavelengths