Efficient Computation of Power, Force, and Torque in BEM Scattering Calculations

We present concise, computationally efficient formulas for several quantities of interest -- including absorbed and scattered power, optical force (radiation pressure), and torque -- in scattering calculations performed using the boundary-element method (BEM) [also known as the method of moments (MOM)]. Our formulas compute the quantities of interest \textit{directly} from the BEM surface currents with no need ever to compute the scattered electromagnetic fields. We derive our new formulas and demonstrate their effectiveness by computing power, force, and torque in a number of example geometries. Free, open-source software implementations of our formulas are available for download online

Ab-initio theory of quantum fluctuations and relaxation oscillations in multimode lasers

We present an \emph{ab-initio} semi-analytical solution for the noise spectrum of complex-cavity micro-structured lasers, including central Lorentzian peaks at the multimode lasing frequencies and additional sidepeaks due to relaxation-oscillation (RO) dynamics. In~Ref.~1, we computed the central-peak linewidths by solving generalized laser rate equations, which we derived from the Maxwell--Bloch equations by invoking the fluctuation--dissipation theorem to relate the noise correlations to the steady-state lasing properties; Here, we generalize this approach and obtain the entire laser spectrum, focusing on the RO sidepeaks. Our formulation treats inhomogeneity, cavity openness, nonlinearity, and multimode effects accurately. We find a number of new effects, including new multimode RO sidepeaks and three generalized $\alpha$ factors. Last, we apply our formulas to compute the noise spectrum of single- and multimode photonic-crystal lasers.Comment: 27 pages, 3 figure

Speed-of-light limitations in passive linear media

We prove that well-known speed of light restrictions on electromagnetic energy velocity can be extended to a new level of generality, encompassing even nonlocal chiral media in periodic geometries, while at the same time weakening the underlying assumptions to only passivity and linearity of the medium (either with a transparency window or with dissipation). As was also shown by other authors under more limiting assumptions, passivity alone is sufficient to guarantee causality and positivity of the energy density (with no thermodynamic assumptions). Our proof is general enough to include a very broad range of material properties, including anisotropy, bianisotropy (chirality), nonlocality, dispersion, periodicity, and even delta functions or similar generalized functions. We also show that the "dynamical energy density" used by some previous authors in dissipative media reduces to the standard Brillouin formula for dispersive energy density in a transparency window. The results in this paper are proved by exploiting deep results from linear-response theory, harmonic analysis, and functional analysis that had previously not been brought together in the context of electrodynamics.Comment: 19 pages, 1 figur

Numerical Methods for Computing Casimir Interactions

We review several different approaches for computing Casimir forces and related fluctuation-induced interactions between bodies of arbitrary shapes and materials. The relationships between this problem and well known computational techniques from classical electromagnetism are emphasized. We also review the basic principles of standard computational methods, categorizing them according to three criteria\-choice of problem, basis, and solution technique\-that can be used to classify proposals for the Casimir problem as well. In this way, mature classical methods can be exploited to model Casimir physics, with a few important modifications.Keywords: Imaginary Frequency, Perfectly Match Layer, Casimir Force, Casimir Energy, Perfect Electric ConductorUnited States. Army Research Office (Contract W911NF-07-D-0004)Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Ferry FundUnited States. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Contract N66001-09-1-2070-DOD

Topology optimization of freeform large-area metasurfaces

We demonstrate optimization of optical metasurfaces over $10^5$--$10^6$ degrees of freedom in two and three dimensions, 100--1000+ wavelengths ($\lambda$) in diameter, with 100+ parameters per $\lambda^2$. In particular, we show how topology optimization, with one degree of freedom per high-resolution "pixel," can be extended to large areas with the help of a locally periodic approximation that was previously only used for a few parameters per $\lambda^2$. In this way, we can computationally discover completely unexpected metasurface designs for challenging multi-frequency, multi-angle problems, including designs for fully coupled multi-layer structures with arbitrary per-layer patterns. Unlike typical metasurface designs based on subwavelength unit cells, our approach can discover both sub- and supra-wavelength patterns and can obtain both the near and far fields

Computation of Casimir Interactions between Arbitrary 3D Objects with Arbitrary Material Properties

We extend a recently introduced method for computing Casimir forces between arbitrarily--shaped metallic objects [M. T. H. Reid et al., Phys. Rev. Lett._103_ 040401 (2009)] to allow treatment of objects with arbitrary material properties, including imperfect conductors, dielectrics, and magnetic materials. Our original method considered electric currents on the surfaces of the interacting objects; the extended method considers both electric and magnetic surface current distributions, and obtains the Casimir energy of a configuration of objects in terms of the interactions of these effective surface currents. Using this new technique, we present the first predictions of Casimir interactions in several experimentally relevant geometries that would be difficult to treat with any existing method. In particular, we investigate Casimir interactions between dielectric nanodisks embedded in a dielectric fluid; we identify the threshold surface--surface separation at which finite--size effects become relevant, and we map the rotational energy landscape of bound nanoparticle diclusters

The effectiveness of thin films in lieu of hyperbolic metamaterials in the near field

We show that the near-field functionality of hyperbolic metamaterials (HMM), typically proposed for increasing the photonic local density of states (LDOS), can be achieved with thin metal films. Although HMMs have an infinite density of internally-propagating plane-wave states, the external coupling to nearby emitters is severely restricted. We show analytically that properly designed thin films, of thicknesses comparable to the metal size of a hyperbolic metamaterial, yield a LDOS as high as (if not higher than) that of HMMs. We illustrate these ideas by performing exact numerical computations of the LDOS of multilayer HMMs, along with their application to the problem of maximizing near-field heat transfer, to show that thin films are suitable replacements in both cases.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure