Dirac-like cone-based electromagnetic zero-index metamaterials

Li, Yang; Chan, Che Ting; Mazur, Eric

doi:10.1038/s41377-021-00642-2

Cited by 66 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 111 publications

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“…J‐aggregates have been used in photonic structures, for example, to present strong coupling with inorganic multilayers [ 23 ] and to create all‐polymer photonic cavities. [ 24 ] Interestingly, the optical properties of films resulting from embedding TDBC into PVA can be modified as a function of the J‐aggregate concentration on the final films [ 7 ] obtaining films whose permittivity can reach ENZ values which correspond to a real part of the refractive index close to zero (below 0.5) in a bandwidth of tens of nanometers, [ 7,12 ] hence making them suitable as NZI materials. These NZI optical properties are obtained in the case of highly doped films with very large oscillator strengths, as high as f = 0.4, which provides a strong dispersive material.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Enhanced Light Absorption in All‐Polymer Biomimetic Photonic Structures by Near‐Zero‐Index Organic Matter

Castillo

Estévez-Varela

Wardley

et al. 2022

Adv Funct Materials

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Natural photosynthetic photonic nanostructures can show sophisticated light-matter interactions including enhanced light absorption by slow light even for highly pigmented systems. Beyond fundamental biology aspects, these natural nanostructures are very attractive as blueprints for advanced photonic devices. But the soft-matter biomimetic implementations of such nanostructures is challenging due to the low refractive index contrast of most organic photonic structures. Excitonic organic materials with near-zero index (NZI) optical properties allow overcoming these bottlenecks. Here, it is demonstrated that the combination of NZI thin films with photonic multilayers like the ones found in nature enables broadband tunable strong reflectance as well as slow light absorption enhancement and tailored photoluminescence properties in the full VIS spectrum. Moreover, it is shown that this complex optical response is tunable, paving the way toward the development of active devices based on all-polymer and near-zero index materials photonic structures.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Interestingly, the refractive index properties shown by thin films of J‐aggregates embedded in polymeric matrices can approach values suitable for near‐zero index materials (NZI). [ 8–12 ]…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhanced Light Absorption in All‐Polymer Biomimetic Photonic Structures by Near‐Zero‐Index Organic Matter

Castillo

Estévez-Varela

Wardley

et al. 2022

Adv Funct Materials

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“…For on-chip applications, the PhCs with a Dirac-like cone would suffer from large radiative losses in the out-of-plane direction, because the Dirac-cone dispersion resides above the light line and the transverse dipole mode forming the Dirac-like cone can couple to extended plane waves in free space [30,31]. This would turn the PhC to be non-Hermitian, and hence the Diraclike cone would disappear, hindering its applications as the ultralow-loss ZIM.…”

Section: On-chip Applications With Cladding and Bic Techniquesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Besides the structural symmetry, Dirac cones can also be created by accidental degeneracy through engineering the material and geometrical parameters [29][30][31]. In 2011, Huang et al demonstrated a Dirac cone at the center of the Brillouin zone, i.e., the Γ point with k 0, of a square lattice of 2D dielectric PhC [32].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hermitian and Non-Hermitian Dirac-Like Cones in Photonic and Phononic Structures

Luo

Lai

2022

Front. Phys.

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Accidental degeneracy plays an important role in the generation of novel band dispersions. Photonic structures that exhibit an accidental Dirac-like conical dispersion at the center of the Brillouin zone can behave like a zero-index material at the Dirac-point frequency, leading to a number of unique features, such as invariant phase in space, wave tunneling, photonic doping and anti-doping, etc. Such a phenomenon has been explored in on-chip structures or three dimensions recently. The introduction of non-Hermiticity into the system via loss or gain could transform the accidental Dirac-like cone into a spawning ring of exceptional points, a complex Dirac-like cone or other unique dispersions. Similar Dirac-like cones and related physics are also observed in phononic structures. This review presents an overview of the accidental-degeneracy-induced Dirac-like cones at the center of the Brillouin zone in both photonic and phononic structures, including the fundamental physics, effective-medium description and experimental demonstration, as well as current challenges and future directions.

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“…In recent years, the so-called epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) materials, with a spectral region where the real part of the permittivity crosses zero, have emerged as one of the most promising platforms for all-optical switching. Naturally occurring homogeneous ENZ material comprises metals [1][2][3][4] and semiconductors [5][6][7], and ENZ regions may also be engineered with metamaterials [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. They have been shown to exhibit exotic behaviors such as photon tunneling [10,[16][17][18], highly directional radiation [19][20][21], cloaking [22], and perfect absorption [23][24][25].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding all-optical switching at the epsilon-near-zero point: a tutorial review

et al. 2022

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Epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) materials that operate in the spectral region where the real part of the permittivity crosses zero have recently emerged as a promising platform for all-optical switching because of the large, optically induced reflectance and transmittance modulation they offer at ultrafast speeds. To gain insights into the ENZ modulation, this study focuses on the reflectance and transmittance modulation of commonly used ENZ switching schemes and applies an analytical framework both for intraband and interband pumping. We consider the effects of the wavelength, the angle, and the probe polarization on the modulation amplitude for different configurations, specifically highlighting the locations of the maximum reflectance/ transmittance modulation and the maximum refractive index modulation, which often occur at different wavelengths around the ENZ point. We find that the maximum modulation, while proximal to the ENZ point, can occur away from the ENZ point and even slight deviations can result in seemingly anomalous modulation behavior. The occurrence of resonances at the ENZ region for ultrathin films further increases the modulation strength. This work paves the path for practical and effective all-optical modulation approaches employing ENZ materials, and will help design the best experimental configurations for future material studies and nonlinear optical experiments employing ENZ materials.

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Dirac-like cone-based electromagnetic zero-index metamaterials

Cited by 66 publications

References 111 publications

Enhanced Light Absorption in All‐Polymer Biomimetic Photonic Structures by Near‐Zero‐Index Organic Matter

Enhanced Light Absorption in All‐Polymer Biomimetic Photonic Structures by Near‐Zero‐Index Organic Matter

Hermitian and Non-Hermitian Dirac-Like Cones in Photonic and Phononic Structures

Understanding all-optical switching at the epsilon-near-zero point: a tutorial review

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