93 research outputs found
Wood anomalies in resonant photonic quasicrystals
A theory of light diffraction from planar quasicrystalline lattice with
resonant scatterers is presented. Rich structure, absent in the periodic case,
is found in specular reflection spectra, and interpreted as a specific kind of
Wood anomalies, characteristic for quasicrystals. The theory is applied to
semiconductor quantum dots arranged in Penrose tiling.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
Tailoring and enhancing spontaneous two-photon emission processes using resonant plasmonic nanostructures
The rate of spontaneous emission is known to depend on the environment of a
light source, and the enhancement of one-photon emission in a resonant cavity
is known as the Purcell effect. Here we develop a theory of spontaneous
two-photon emission for a general electromagnetic environment including
inhomogeneous dispersive and absorptive media. This theory is used to evaluate
the two-photon Purcell enhancement in the vicinity of metallic nanoparticles
and it is demonstrated that the surface plasmon resonances supported by these
particles can enhance the emission rate by more than two orders of magnitude.
The control over two-photon Purcell enhancement given by tailored
nanostructured environments could provide an emitter with any desired spectral
response and may serve as an ultimate route for designing light sources with
novel properties
Anomalous Suppression of Valley Splittings in Lead Salt Nanocrystals without Inversion Center
Atomistic sp3d5s* tight-binding theory of PbSe and PbS nanocrystals is
developed. It is demonstrated, that the valley splittings of confined electrons
and holes strongly and peculiarly depend on the geometry of a nanocrystal. When
the nanocrystal lacks a microscopic center of inversion and has T_d symmetry,
the splitting is strongly suppressed as compared to the more symmetric
nanocrystals with O_h symmetry, having an inversion center.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl
Microscopic model of Purcell enhancement in hyperbolic metamaterials
We study theoretically a dramatic enhancement of spontaneous emission in
metamaterials with the hyperbolic dispersion modeled as a cubic lattice of
anisotropic resonant dipoles. We analyze the dependence of the Purcell factor
on the source position in the lattice unit cell and demonstrate that the
optimal emitter position to achieve large Purcell factors and Lamb shifts are
in the local field maxima. We show that the calculated Green function has a
characteristic cross-like shape, spatially modulated due to structure
discreteness. Our basic microscopic theory provides fundamental insights into
the rapidly developing field of hyperbolic metamaterials.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figure
Spontaneous radiation of a finite-size dipole emitter in hyperbolic media
We study the radiative decay rate and Purcell effect for a finite-size dipole
emitter placed in a homogeneous uniaxial medium. We demonstrate that the
radiative rate is strongly enhanced when the signs of the longitudinal and
transverse dielectric constants of the medium are opposite, and the
isofrequency contour has a hyperbolic shape. We reveal that the Purcell
enhancement factor remains finite even in the absence of losses, and it depends
on the emitter size.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
Topological Photonics
Topology is revolutionizing photonics, bringing with it new theoretical
discoveries and a wealth of potential applications. This field was inspired by
the discovery of topological insulators, in which interfacial electrons
transport without dissipation even in the presence of impurities. Similarly,
new optical mirrors of different wave-vector space topologies have been
constructed to support new states of light propagating at their interfaces.
These novel waveguides allow light to flow around large imperfections without
back-reflection. The present review explains the underlying principles and
highlights the major findings in photonic crystals, coupled resonators,
metamaterials and quasicrystals.Comment: progress and review of an emerging field, 12 pages, 6 figures and 1
tabl
Lower bound for the spatial extent of localized modes in photonic-crystal waveguides with small random imperfections
Light localization due to random imperfections in periodic media is paramount in photonics research. The group index is known to be a key parameter for localization near photonic band edges, since small group velocities reinforce light interaction with imperfections. Here, we show that the size of the smallest localized mode that is formed at the band edge of a one-dimensional periodic medium is driven instead by the effective photon mass, i.e. the flatness of the dispersion curve. Our theoretical prediction is supported by numerical simulations, which reveal that photonic-crystal waveguides can exhibit surprisingly small localized modes, much smaller than those observed in Bragg stacks thanks to their larger effective photon mass. This possibility is demonstrated experimentally with a photonic-crystal waveguide fabricated without any intentional disorder, for which near-field measurements allow us to distinctly observe a wavelength-scale localized mode despite the smallness (âŒ1/1000 of a wavelength) of the fabrication imperfections
Graphene on hexagonal boron nitride as a tunable hyperbolic metamaterial
Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is a natural hyperbolic material1, in which the dielectric constants are the same in the basal plane (Δ[superscript t]ââĄâΔ[superscript x]â=âΔ[superscript y]) but have opposite signs (Δ[superscript t] Δ[superscript zâ]<â0) in the normal plane (Δ[superscript z]). Owing to this property, finite-thickness slabs of h-BN act as multimode waveguides for the propagation of hyperbolic phonon polaritonsâcollective modes that originate from the coupling between photons and electric dipoles in phonons. However, control of these hyperbolic phonon polaritons modes has remained challenging, mostly because their electrodynamic properties are dictated by the crystal lattice of h-BN. Here we show, by direct nano-infrared imaging, that these hyperbolic polaritons can be effectively modulated in a van der Waals heterostructure composed of monolayer graphene on h-BN. Tunability originates from the hybridization of surface plasmon polaritons in graphene with hyperbolic phonon polaritons in h-BN so that the eigenmodes of the graphene/h-BN heterostructure are hyperbolic plasmonâphonon polaritons. The hyperbolic plasmonâphonon polaritons in graphene/h-BN suffer little from ohmic losses, making their propagation length 1.5â2.0 times greater than that of hyperbolic phonon polaritons in h-BN. The hyperbolic plasmonâphonon polaritons possess the combined virtues of surface plasmon polaritons in graphene and hyperbolic phonon polaritons in h-BN. Therefore, graphene/h-BN can be classified as an electromagnetic metamaterial as the resulting properties of these devices are not present in its constituent elements alone
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