55 research outputs found
Statistical Signatures of Photon Localization
The realization that electron localization in disordered systems (Anderson
localization) is ultimately a wave phenomenon has led to the suggestion that
photons could be similarly localized by disorder. This conjecture attracted
wide interest because the differences between photons and electrons - in their
interactions, spin statistics, and methods of injection and detection - may
open a new realm of optical and microwave phenomena, and allow a detailed study
of the Anderson localization transition undisturbed by the Coulomb interaction.
To date, claims of three-dimensional photon localization have been based on
observations of the exponential decay of the electromagnetic wave as it
propagates through the disordered medium. But these reports have come under
close scrutiny because of the possibility that the decay observed may be due to
residual absorption, and because absorption itself may suppress localization.
Here we show that the extent of photon localization can be determined by a
different approach - measurement of the relative size of fluctuations of
certain transmission quantities. The variance of relative fluctuations
accurately reflects the extent of localization, even in the presence of
absorption. Using this approach, we demonstrate photon localization in both
weakly and strongly scattering quasi-one-dimensional dielectric samples and in
periodic metallic wire meshes containing metallic scatterers, while ruling it
out in three-dimensional mixtures of aluminum spheres.Comment: 5 pages, including 4 figure
A New Type of Intensity Correlation in Random Media
A monochromatic point source, embedded in a three-dimensional disordered
medium, is considered. The resulting intensity pattern exhibits a new type of
long-range correlations. The range of these correlations is infinite and their
magnitude, normalized to the average intensity, is of order , where
and are the wave number and the mean free path respectively.Comment: RevTeX, 8 pages, 3 figures, Accepted to Phys. Rev. Let
Dynamic Correlation in Wave Propagation in Random Media
We report time-resolved measurements of the statistics of pulsed transmission
through quasi-one-dimensional dielectric media with static disorder. The
normalized intensity correlation function with displacement and polarization
rotation for an incident pulse of linewidth at delay time t is a
function only of the field correlation function, which is identical to that
found for steady-state excitation, and of , the residual
degree of intensity correlation at points at which the field correlation
function vanishes. The dynamic probability distribution of normalized intensity
depends only upon . Steady-state statistics are recovered
in the limit ->0, in which is the steady-state
degree of correlation.Comment: 4 RevTex pages, 4 figure
Measurement of the Probability Distribution of Total Transmission in Random Waveguides
Measurements have been made of the probability distribution of total
transmission of microwave radiation in waveguides filled with randomly
positioned scatterers which would have values of the dimensionless conductance
g near unity. The distributions are markedly non-Gaussian and have exponential
tails. The measured distributions are accurately described by diagrammatic and
random matrix calculations carried out for nonabsorbing samples in the limit g
>> 1 when g is expressed in terms of the variance of the distribution, which
equals the degree of long-range intensity correlation across the output face of
the sample.Comment: 5 pages, 5 post script figures, RevTe
Wave Scattering through Classically Chaotic Cavities in the Presence of Absorption: An Information-Theoretic Model
We propose an information-theoretic model for the transport of waves through
a chaotic cavity in the presence of absorption. The entropy of the S-matrix
statistical distribution is maximized, with the constraint : n is the dimensionality of S, and meaning complete (no) absorption. For strong absorption our result
agrees with a number of analytical calculations already given in the
literature. In that limit, the distribution of the individual (angular)
transmission and reflection coefficients becomes exponential -Rayleigh
statistics- even for n=1. For Rayleigh statistics is attained even
with no absorption; here we extend the study to . The model is
compared with random-matrix-theory numerical simulations: it describes the
problem very well for strong absorption, but fails for moderate and weak
absorptions. Thus, in the latter regime, some important physical constraint is
missing in the construction of the model.Comment: 4 pages, latex, 3 ps figure
Field and intensity correlations in random media
Measurements of the microwave field transmitted through a random medium
allows direct access to the field correlation function, whose complex square is
the short range or C1 contribution to the intensity correlation function C. The
frequency and spatial correlation function are compared to their Fourier pairs,
the time of flight distribution and the specific intensity, respectively. The
longer range contribution to intensity correlation is obtained directly by
subtracting C1 from C and is in good agreement with theory.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys.Rev.
Photon Localization in Resonant Media
We report measurements of microwave transmission over the first five Mie
resonances of alumina spheres randomly positioned in a waveguide. Though
precipitous drops in transmission and sharp peaks in the photon transit time
are found near all resonances, measurements of transmission fluctuations show
that localization occurs only in a narrow frequency window above the first
resonance. There the drop in the photon density of states is found to be more
pronounced than the fall in the photon transit time, leading to a minimum in
the Thouless number.Comment: To appear in PRL; 5 pages, including 5 figure
Magnetic Field Effects on the Transport Properties of One-sided Rough Wires
We present a detailed numerical analysis of the effect of a magnetic field on
the transport properties of a `small-' one-sided surface disordered wire.
When time reversal symmetry is broken due to a magnetic field , we find a
strong increase with not only of the localization length but also of
the mean free path caused by boundary states. Despite this, the
universal relationship between and does hold. We also analyze the
conductance distribution at the metal-insulator crossover, finding a very good
agreement with Random Matrix Theory with two fluctuating channels within the
Circular Orthogonal(Unitary) Ensemble in absence(presence) of Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Reflection and transmission of waves in surface-disordered waveguides
The reflection and transmission amplitudes of waves in disordered multimode
waveguides are studied by means of numerical simulations based on the invariant
embedding equations. In particular, we analyze the influence of surface-type
disorder on the behavior of the ensemble average and fluctuations of the
reflection and transmission coefficients, reflectance, transmittance, and
conductance. Our results show anomalous effects stemming from the combination
of mode dispersion and rough surface scattering: For a given waveguide length,
the larger the mode transverse momentum is, the more strongly is the mode
scattered. These effects manifest themselves in the mode selectivity of the
transmission coefficients, anomalous backscattering enhancement, and speckle
pattern both in reflection and transmission, reflectance and transmittance, and
also in the conductance and its universal fluctuations. It is shown that, in
contrast to volume impurities, surface scattering in quasi-one-dimensional
structures (waveguides) gives rise to the coexistence of the ballistic,
diffusive, and localized regimes within the same sample.Comment: LaTeX (REVTeX), 12 pages with 14 EPS figures (epsf macro), minor
change
Signatures of photon localization
Signatures of photon localization are observed in a constellation of
transport phenomena which reflect the transition from diffusive to localized
waves. The dimensionless conductance, g, and the ratio of the typical spectral
width and spacing of quasimodes, \delta, are key indicators of electronic and
classical wave localization when inelastic processes are absent. However, these
can no longer serve as localization parameters in absorbing samples since the
affect of absorption depends upon the length of the trajectories of partial
waves traversing the sample, which are superposed to create the scattered
field. A robust determination of localization in the presence of absorption is
found, however, in steady-state measurements of the statistics of radiation
transmitted through random samples. This is captured in a single parameter, the
variance of the total transmission normalized to its ensemble average value,
which is equal to the degree of intensity correlation of the transmitted wave,
\kappa. The intertwined effects of localization and absorption can also be
disentangled in the time domain since all waves emerging from the sample at a
fixed time delay from an exciting pulse, t, are suppressed equally by
absorption. As a result, the relative weights of partial waves emerging from
the sample, and hence the statistics of intensity fluctuations and correlation,
and the suppression of propagation by weak localization are not changed by
absorption, and manifest the growing impact of weak localization with t.Comment: RevTex 16 pages, 12 figures; to appear in special issue of J. Phys. A
on quantum chaotic scatterin
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