Army Research Laboratory and University of Maryland Chain 21 Laser-Written Microresonators on One Glass Fiber Into a Topological Photonic Simulator, Nature Communications, 29 September 2026, TRL 3

Nathaniel Fried, Dashiell Vitullo and Avik Dutt of the DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory and the University of Maryland wrote 21 microresonators onto one glass fiber with a carbon dioxide laser and used the chain as a topological photonic simulator of Su-Schrieffer-Heeger lattices. In a separate ten-site SSH2 device, localized defects consistent with scattering, possibly from surface impurities, caused no notable edge-mode changes. The Army release adds resilient networks and GPS-free quantum navigation as future uses, which the paper does not test. The result is an open, dual-use TRL 3 bench proof of concept in the simulation pillar.