Superdirectivity from arrays of strongly coupled meta-atoms

This is the final version of the article. Available from AIP Publishing via the DOI in this record.We explore the possibility of achieving superdirectivity in metamaterial-inspired endfire antenna arrays relying on the good services of magnetoinductive waves. These are short-wavelength slow waves propagating by virtue of coupling between resonant meta-atoms. Magnetoinductive waves are capable of providing a rapidly varying current distribution on the scale of the free space wavelength. Using dimers and trimers of magnetically coupled split ring resonators with only one element driven by an external source, we introduce an analytical condition for realising superdirective current distributions. Although those current distributions have been known theoretically for a good 60 years, this is the first time that a recipe is given to realise them in practice. Our key parameters are the size of the array, the resonant frequency and quality factor of the elements, and their coupling constant. We compare our analytical results for coupled magnetic dipoles with numerical results from CST simulations for meta-atoms of various shapes. The calculated bandwidth of 5 MHz for a dimer operating at 150 MHz indicates that, contrary to popular belief, superdirective antennas exist not only in theory but may have practical applications.Financial support by the John Fell Fund (University of Oxford) and by the EPSRC UK (SYMETA, EP/N010493/1) is gratefully acknowledged

Strong light-matter coupling in topological metasurfaces integrated with transition metal dichalcogenides

Strong light-matter interactions enable unique nonlinear and quantum phenomena at moderate light intensities. Within the last years, polaritonic metasurfaces emerged as a viable candidate for realization of such regimes. In particular, planar photonic structures integrated with 2D excitonic materials, such as transition metal dichalcogenides (TMD), can support exciton polaritons – half-light half-matter quasiparticles. Here, we explore topological exciton polaritons which are formed in a suitably engineered all-dielectric topological photonic metasurface coupled to TMD monolayers. We experimentally demonstrate the transition of topological charge from photonic to polaritonic bands with the onset of strong coupling regime and confirm the presence of one-way spin-polarized edge topological polaritons. The proposed system constitutes a promising platform for photonic/solid-state interfaces for valleytronics and spintronics

Experimental observation of topological exciton-polaritons in transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers

The rise of quantum science and technologies motivates photonics research to seek new platforms with strong light-matter interactions to facilitate quantum behaviors at moderate light intensities. One promising platform to reach such strong light-matter interacting regimes is offered by polaritonic metasurfaces, which represent ultrathin artificial media structured on nano-scale and designed to support polaritons - half-light half-matter quasiparticles. Topological polaritons, or 'topolaritons', offer an ideal platform in this context, with unique properties stemming from topological phases of light strongly coupled with matter. Here we explore polaritonic metasurfaces based on 2D transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) supporting in-plane polarized exciton resonances as a promising platform for topological polaritonics. We enable a spin-Hall topolaritonic phase by strongly coupling valley polarized in-plane excitons in a TMD monolayer with a suitably engineered all-dielectric topological photonic metasurface. We first show that the strong coupling between topological photonic bands supported by the metasurface and excitonic bands in MoSe2 yields an effective phase winding and transition to a topolaritonic spin-Hall state. We then experimentally realize this phenomenon and confirm the presence of one-way spin-polarized edge topolaritons. Combined with the valley polarization in a MoSe2 monolayer, the proposed system enables a new approach to engage the photonic angular momentum and valley degree of freedom in TMDs, offering a promising platform for photonic/solid-state interfaces for valleytronics and spintronics

Superdirectivity from arrays of strongly coupled meta-atoms

We explore the possibility of achieving superdirectivity in metamaterial-inspired endfire antenna arrays relying on the good services of magnetoinductive waves. These are short-wavelength slow waves propagating by virtue of coupling between resonant meta-atoms. Magnetoinductive waves are capable of providing a rapidly varying current distribution on the scale of the free space wavelength. Using dimers and trimers of magnetically coupled split ring resonators with only one element driven by an external source, we introduce an analytical condition for realising superdirective current distributions. Although those current distributions have been known theoretically for a good 60 years, this is the first time that a recipe is given to realise them in practice. Our key parameters are the size of the array, the resonant frequency and quality factor of the elements, and their coupling constant. We compare our analytical results for coupled magnetic dipoles with numerical results from CST simulations for meta-atoms of various shapes. The calculated bandwidth of 5 MHz for a dimer operating at 150 MHz indicates that, contrary to popular belief, superdirective antennas exist not only in theory but may have practical applications