Fundamental limits to optical response in absorptive systems

At visible and infrared frequencies, metals show tantalizing promise for strong subwavelength resonances, but material loss typically dampens the response. We derive fundamental limits to the optical response of absorptive systems, bounding the largest enhancements possible given intrinsic material losses. Through basic conservation-of-energy principles, we derive geometry-independent limits to per-volume absorption and scattering rates, and to local-density-of-states enhancements that represent the power radiated or expended by a dipole near a material body. We provide examples of structures that approach our absorption and scattering limits at any frequency, by contrast, we find that common "antenna" structures fall far short of our radiative LDOS bounds, suggesting the possibility for significant further improvement. Underlying the limits is a simple metric, $|\chi|^2 / \operatorname{Im} \chi$ for a material with susceptibility $\chi$, that enables broad technological evaluation of lossy materials across optical frequencies.Comment: 21 pages and 6 figures (excluding appendices, references

Gradient Optics of subwavelength nanofilms

Propagation and tunneling of light through subwavelength photonic barriers, formed by dielectric layers with continuous spatial variations of dielectric susceptibility across the film are considered. Effects of giant heterogeneity-induced non-local dispersion, both normal and anomalous, are examined by means of a series of exact analytical solutions of Maxwell equations for gradient media. Generalized Fresnel formulae, visualizing a profound influence of gradient and curvature of dielectric susceptibility profiles on reflectance/transmittance of periodical photonic heterostructures are presented. Depending on the cutoff frequency of the barrier, governed by technologically managed spatial profile of its refractive index, propagation or tunneling of light through these barriers are examined. Nonattenuative transfer of EM energy by evanescent waves, tunneling through dielectric gradient barriers, characterized by real values of refractive index, decreasing in the depth of medium, is shown. Scaling of the obtained results for different spectral ranges of visible, IR and THz waves is illustrated. Potential of gradient optical structures for design of miniaturized filters, polarizers and frequency-selective interfaces of subwavelength thickness is considered

Acceleration of Range Points Migration-Based Microwave Imaging for Nondestructive Testing

We report on an experimental investigation of the properties of volume holographic recording in photopolymerizable nanoparticle?polymer composites (NPCs) doped with chain transferring multifunctional di- and tri-thiols as chain transfer agents. It is shown that the incorporation of the multifunctional thiols into NPCs more strongly influences on volume holographic recording than that doped with mono-thiol since more chemical reactions involve in the polymer network formation. It is found that, as similar to the case of mono-thiol doping, there exist optimum concentrations of di- and tri-thiols for maximizing the saturated refractive index modulation. It is also seen that recording sensitivity monotonically decreases with an increase in multifunctional thiol concentration due to the partial inhibition of the photopolymerization event by excessive thiols

“Unlocking” the Ground: Increasing the Detectability of Buried Objects by Depositing Passive Superstrates

One of the main problems when trying to detect the position and other characteristics of a small inclusion into lossy earth via external measurements is the inclusion’s poor scattering response due to attenuation. Hence, increasing the scattered power generated by the inclusion by using not an active but a passive material is of great interest. To this direction, we examine, in this work, a procedure of “unlocking” the ground by depositing a thin passive layer of conventional material atop of it. The first step is to significantly enhance the transmission into a lossy half space, in the absence of the inclusion, by covering it with a passive slab. The redistribution of the fields into the slab and the infinite half space, due to the interplay of waves between the interfaces, makes possible to determine the thickness and permittivity of an optimal layer. The full boundary value problem (including the inclusion and the deposited superstrate) is solved semi-analytically via integral equations techniques. Then, the scattered power of the buried inclusion is compared to the corresponding quantity when no additional layer is present. We report substantial improvement in the detectability of the inclusion for several types of ground and burying depths by using conventional realizable passive materials. Implementation aspects in potential applications as well as possible future generalizations are also discussed. The developed technique may constitute an effective “configuration (structural) preprocessing” which may be used as a first step in the analysis of related problems before the application of an inverse scattering algorithm concerning the efficient processing of the scattering dat

A new green's function formulation for modeling homogeneous objects in layered medium

A new Green's function formulation is developed systematically for modeling general homogeneous (dielectric or magnetic) objects in a layered medium. The dyadic form of the Green's function is first derived based on the pilot vector potential approach. The matrix representation in the moment method implementation is then derived by applying integration by parts and vector identities. The line integral issue in the matrix representation is investigated, based on the continuity property of the propagation factor and the consistency of the primary term and the secondary term. The extinction theorem is then revisited in the inhomogeneous background and a surface integral equation for general homogeneous objects is set up. Different from the popular mixed potential integral equation formulation, this method avoids the artificial definition of scalar potential. The singularity of the matrix representation of the Green's function can be made as weak as possible. Several numerical results are demonstrated to validate the formulation developed in this paper. Finally, the duality principle of the layered medium Green's function is discussed in the appendix to make the formulation succinct. © 1963-2012 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

Analysis and Numerical Solution of an Integral Equation Method for Electromagnetic Scattering from a Cavity in a Ground Plane

In this research the electromagnetic scattering of a plane wave from a two-dimensional cavity embedded in an infinite, perfectly conducting ground plane is investigated. The plane wave is assumed to be under transverse electric (TE) polarization with respect to the x-axis. The cavity may be empty or filled with an arbitrary homogeneous, lossy material. A coupled set of scalar integral equations that govern the electromagnetic scattering is implemented. An approximate solution to the scalar integral equations is found via a Method of Moments (MoM) algorithm. The algorithm is implemented in a computer code, and approximations to the total magnetic field on the cavity surface and aperture as well as the normal derivative of the total magnetic field on the cavity aperture are obtained. These fields are then used to calculate the two-dimensional monostatic RCS signatures of various test cavities. The numerical results from the algorithm are shown to agree well with the RCS signatures calculated by other well-known methods and published results. In addition to being accurate, the algorithm is very computationally efficient. The process results in simply solving a relatively small, well-conditioned matrix system for each incident angle to produce the unknown fields

Study on Electromagnetic Scattering of Cylinders Buried in a Half Space with Random Rough Surfaces of Finite/Infinite Length

Analysis of electromagnetic scattering of buried objects is a subject of great interest due to its practical importance in both military and civil applications, such as subsurface investigation and target detection. In reality, the earth is of layered structure of random rough interfaces, which leads to a greatly increased complexity of the analysis. However, it is necessary to incorporate the nature of random rough surface and the layered structure because they both have substantial impact on the scattered signature and hence affect the study of inverse scattering and detection of buried objects. In this dissertation, a Monte-Carlo multidomain pseudospectral time domain (MPSTD) method is developed for investigating the scattering from cylinders buried below a random rough surface separating two half spaces under various conditions. As a prelude, the formulation of multidomain PSTD algorithm is presented. Then, this formulation is extended and combined with the Monte-Carlo approach to analyze the scattering of an object buried below a random rough surface of finite length. In the analysis, special attention is paid to the treatments of the random rough surface including its profile generation, matching with CGL points, and subdomain patching. Next, the scattering of a cylinder buried below a random rough surface of infinite length is studied and a two-step computation model based on the Monte-Carlo MPSTD method is developed. Further, in order to better simulate the real situation, the analysis is then extended to study the scattering from one or more cylinders embedded in a layered half space with random rough surfaces. Finally, a near-zone field to far-zone field transformation technique is developed and presented. Sample numerical results under different conditions, involving random rough surface of various roughness, lower half space with different permittivities, and cylinders of circular and rectangular shapes are presented, validated, and analyzed. Throughout this research, a numerical technique based on Monte-Carlo method and MPSTD approach has been developed and validated for investigating cylinders buried in a half space with random rough surfaces. It is observed that the roughness of the random rough surface and the electromagnetic properties of the lower half space can significantly affect the scattered signature of the buried object