Observation of a p -orbital higher-order topological insulator phase in puckered lattice acoustic metamaterials

The puckered lattice geometry, along with $p$ orbitals, is often overlooked in the study of topological physics. Here, we investigate the higher-order topology of the ${p}_x,y$-orbital bands in acoustic metamaterials using a simplified two-dimensional phosphorene lattice which possesses a puckered structure. Notably, unlike the $s$-orbital bands in planar lattices, the unique higher-order topology observed here is specific to $p$ orbitals and the puckered geometry due to the unusual hopping patterns induced by them. Using acoustic pump-probe measurements in metamaterials, we confirm the emergence of the edge and corner states due to the unconventional higher-order topology. We reveal the uniqueness of the higher-order topological physics here via complimentary tight-binding calculations, finite-element simulations, and acoustic experiments. We analyze the underlying physics of the special properties of the edge and corner states in the puckered lattice acoustic metamaterials from the picture of Wannier orbitals. Our work sheds light on the intriguing physics of $p$-orbital topological physics in puckered lattices and acoustic metamaterials which lead to unconventional topological boundary states.