Ideal Kerker scattering by homogeneous spheres: the role of gain or loss

We reexamine a recent work [Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{125}, 073205 (2020)] that investigates how the optical gain or loss (characterized by isotropic complex refractive indexes) influences the ideal Kerker scattering of exactly zero backward scattering. There it has been rigourously proved that, for non-magnetic homogeneous spheres with incident plane waves, either gain or loss prohibits such ideal Kerker scattering, provided that only electric and magnetic multipoles of a specific order are present and contributions from other multipoles can all be made precisely zero. Here we reveal that, when two multipoles of a fixed order are perfectly matched in terms of both phase and magnitude, multipoles of at least the next two orders cannot possibly be tuned to be all precisely zero or even perfectly matched, and consequently cannot directly produce ideal Kerker scattering. Moreover, we further demonstrate that, when multipoles of different orders are simultaneously taken into consideration, the loss or gain can serve as a helpful rather than harmful contributing factor, for the eliminations of backward scattering

Arbitrary Polarization-Independent Backscattering or Reflection by Rotationally-Symmetric Reciprocal Structures

We study the backward scatterings of plane waves by reciprocal scatterers and reveal that $n$-fold ($n\geq3$) rotation symmetry is sufficient to secure invariant backscattering for arbitrarily-polarized incident plane waves. It is further demonstrated that the same principle is also applicable for infinite periodic structures in terms of reflection, which simultaneously guarantees the transmission invariance if there are neither Ohmic losses nor extra diffraction channels. At the presence of losses, extra reflection symmetries (with reflection planes either parallel or perpendicular to the incident direction) can be incorporated to ensure simultaneously the invariance of transmission and absorption. The principles we have revealed are protected by fundamental laws of reciprocity and parity conservation, which are fully independent of the optical or geometric parameters of the photonic structures. The optical invariance obtained is intrinsically robust against perturbations that preserve reciprocity and the geometric symmetries, which could be widely employed for photonic applications that require stable backscatterings or reflections

Scattering invariance for arbitrary polarizations protected by joint spatial-duality symmetries

We reveal how to exploit joint spatial-electromagnetic duality symmetries to obtain invariant scattering properties (including extinction, scattering, absorption) of self-dual scattering systems for incident waves of arbitrary polarizations. The electromagnetic duality ensures the helicity preservation along all scattering directions, and thus intrinsically eliminates the interferences between the two scattering channels originating from the circularly polarized components of incident waves. This absence of interference directly secures invariant scattering properties for all polarizations located on the same latitude circle of the Poincar\'{e} sphere, which are characterized by polarization ellipses of the same eccentricity and handedness. Further incorporations of mirror and/or inversion symmetries would lead to such invariance throughout the whole Poincar\'{e} sphere, guaranteeing invariant scattering properties for all polarizations. Simultaneous exploitations of composite symmetries of different natures render an extra dimension of freedom for scattering manipulations, offering new insights for both fundamental explorations and optical device engineering related to symmetry dictated light-matter interactions

Scattering and absorption invariance of nonmagnetic particles under duality transformations

We revisit the total scatterings (in terms of extinction, scattering and absorption cross sections) by arbitrary clusters of nonmagnetic particles that support optically-induced magnetic responses. Our reexamination is conducted from the perspective of the electromagnetic duality symmetry, and it is revealed that all total scattering properties are invariant under duality transformations. This secures that for self-dual particle clusters, the total scattering properties are polarization independent for any fixed incident direction; while for non-self-dual particle clusters, two scattering configurations that are connected to each other through a duality transformation would exhibit identical scattering properties. This electromagnetic duality induced invariance is irrelevant to specific particle distributions or wave incident directions, which is illustrated for both random and periodic clusters

Extremize Optical Chiralities through Polarization Singularities

Chiral optical effects are generally quantified along some specific incident directions of exciting waves (especially for extrinsic chiralities of achiral structures) or defined as direction-independent properties by averaging the responses among all structure orientations. Though of great significance for various applications, chirality extremization (maximized or minimized) with respect to incident directions or structure orientations have not been explored, especially in a systematic manner. In this study we examine the chiral responses of open photonic structures from perspectives of quasi-normal modes and polarization singularities of their far-field radiations. The nontrivial topology of the momentum sphere secures the existence of singularity directions along which mode radiations are either circularly or linearly polarized. When plane waves are incident along those directions, the reciprocity ensures ideal maximization and minimization of optical chiralities, for corresponding mode radiations of circular and linear polarizations respectively. For directions of general elliptical polarizations, we have unveiled the subtle equality of a Stokes parameter and the circular dichroism, showing that an intrinsically chiral structure can unexpectedly exhibit no chirality at all or even chiralities of opposite handedness for different incident directions. The framework we establish can be applied to not only finite scattering bodies but also infinite periodic structures, encompassing both intrinsic and extrinsic optical chiralities. We have effectively merged two vibrant disciplines of chiral and singular optics, which can potentially trigger more optical chirality-singularity related interdisciplinary studies

Evolution and global charge conservation for polarization singularities emerging from nonhermitian degeneracies

Core concepts in singular optics, especially the polarization singularity, have rapidly penetrated the surging fields of topological and nonhermitian photonics. For open photonic structures with degeneracies in particular, the polarization singularity would inevitably encounter another sweeping concept of Berry phase. Several investigations have discussed, in an inexplicit way, the connections between both concepts, hinting at that nonzero topological charges for far-field polarizations on a loop is inextricably linked to its nontrivial Berry phase when degeneracies are enclosed. In this work, we reexamine the seminal photonic crystal slab that supports the fundamental two-level nonhermitian degeneracies. Regardless of the invariance of nontrivial Berry phase for different loops enclosing both exceptional points, we demonstrate that the associated polarization fields exhibit topologically inequivalent patterns that are characterized by variant topological charges, including even the trivial scenario of zero charge. It is further revealed that for both bands, the seemingly complex evolutions of polarizations are bounded by the global charge conservation, with extra points of circular polarizations playing indispensable roles. This indicates that tough not directly associated with any local charges, the invariant Berry phase is directly linked to the globally conserved charge, the physical principles underlying which have all been further clarified by a modified Berry-Dennis model. Our work can potentially trigger an avalanche of studies to explore subtle interplays between Berry phase and all sorts of optical singularities, shedding new light on subjects beyond photonics that are related to both Berry phase and singularities