Enhancement of electromagnetically induced transparency in metamaterials using long range coupling mediated by a hyperbolic material

Highly Sensitive Qualitative and Quantitative Identification of Cashmere and Wool Based on Terahertz Electromagnetically Induced Transparent Metasurface Biosensor

Cashmere and wool are both natural animal fibers used in the textile industry, but cashmere is of superior quality, is rarer, and more precious. It is therefore important to distinguish the two fibers accurately and effectively. However, challenges due to their similar appearance, morphology, and physical and chemical properties remain. Herein, a terahertz electromagnetic inductive transparency (EIT) metasurface biosensor is introduced for qualitative and quantitative identification of cashmere and wool. The periodic unit structure of the metasurface consists of four rotationally symmetric resonators and two cross-arranged metal secants to form toroidal dipoles and electric dipoles, respectively, so that its effective sensing area can be greatly improved by 1075% compared to the traditional dipole mode, and the sensitivity will be up to 342 GHz/RIU. The amplitude and frequency shift changes of the terahertz transmission spectra caused by the different refractive indices of cashmere/wool can achieve highly sensitive label-free qualitative and quantitative identification of both. The experimental results show that the terahertz metasurface biosensor can work at a concentration of 0.02 mg/mL. It provides a new way to achieve high sensitivity, precision, and trace detection of cashmere/wool, and would be a valuable application for the cashmere industry.

Lattice-induced strong coupling in symmetric and asymmetric split-ring metamaterial arrays

The intrinsic link between surface plasmon modes (eigenmodes) and lattice modes in subwavelength periodic structures is investigated based on the split-ring metamaterial structure. The paper shows that the strong coupling between the eigenmodes and the lattice modes can be achieved by appropriately adjusting the period of the metamaterial structure, and the emergence of new, to the best of our knowledge, modes at low frequencies is observed, resulting in a lower spectral loss of a single hybrid resonance and an increase in its Q factor up to 110. In addition, an asymmetric double-split-ring structure is proposed, and the Fano resonance is excited, giving rise to a spectral line with three resonance valleys. The coupled harmonic-oscillator model is used to interpret the underlying coupling mechanism in lattice-induced transparent systems, which agrees well with our simulation results. This strong-coupling scheme between the lattice and the mixed modes of the metamaterial unit provides a new avenue to modulate lattice-induced transparency, high-Q resonance, and strong-field confinement, which may find applications in the design of ultrasensitive sensors, slow-light devices, as well as multiple frequency absorbers and other fields.

Electromagnetic energy density in hyperbolic metamaterials

We present the theory of electromagnetic energy propagation through a dispersive and absorbing hyperbolic metamaterial (HMM). In this way, the permittivity tensor components of HMM (especially, nanowire HMM) may appear to be hopeless, but as a non-trivial step, we find that they can be cast into more transparent forms. We find under the influence of an electromagnetic wave, the responses of nanowire HMM (multilayer HMM) in the directions perpendicular to and parallel to the optical axis are similar to those of Lorentz (Drude) and Drude (Lorentz) media, respectively. We obtain simple expressions for the electromagnetic energy density formula of both typical structures of HMMs, i.e., nanowire and multilayer HMMs. Numerical examples reveal the general characteristics of the direction-dependent energy storage capacity of both nanowire and multilayer HMMs. The results of this study may shed more physical insight into the optical characteristics of HMMs.

Intrinsic superflat bands in general twisted bilayer systems

Twisted bilayer systems with discrete magic angles, such as twisted bilayer graphene featuring moiré superlattices, provide a versatile platform for exploring novel physical properties. Here, we discover a class of superflat bands in general twisted bilayer systems beyond the low-energy physics of magic-angle twisted counterparts. By considering continuous lattice dislocation, we obtain intrinsic localized states, which are spectrally isolated at lowest and highest energies and spatially centered around the AA stacked region, governed by the macroscopic effective energy potential well. Such localized states exhibit negligible inter-cell coupling and support the formation of superflat bands in a wide and continuous parameter space, which can be mimicked using a twisted bilayer nanophotonic system. Our finding suggests that general twisted bilayer systems can realize continuously tunable superflat bands and the corresponding localized states for various photonic, phononic, and mechanical waves.

Omnidirectional nonreciprocal absorber realized by the magneto-optical hypercrystal

Photonic bandgap design is one of the most basic ways to effectively control the interaction between light and matter. However, the traditional photonic bandgap is always dispersive (blueshift with the increase of the incident angle), which is disadvantageous to the construction of wide-angle optical devices. Hypercrystal, the photonic crystal with layered hyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs), can strongly modify the bandgap properties based on the anomalous wavevector dispersion of the HMM. Here, based on phase variation competition between HMM and isotropic dielectric layers, we propose for the first time to design nonreciprocal and flexible photonic bandgaps in one-dimensional photonic crystals containing magneto-optical HMMs. Especially the zero-shift cavity mode and the blueshift cavity mode are designed for the forward and backward propagations, respectively. Our results show maximum absorption about 0.99 (0.25) in an angle range of 20-75 degrees for the forward (backward) incident light at the wavelength of 367 nm. The nonreciprocal omnidirectional cavity mode not only facilitates the design of perfect unidirectional optical absorbers working in a wide-angle range, but also possesses significant applications for all-angle reflectors and filters.

High anti-interference dual-parameter sensor using an EIT-like effect photonic crystal cavity coupled system

We propose a sensor with high anti-interference ability using a photonic crystal cavity coupled system for simultaneous sensing of the refractive index (RI) and temperature (T) based on an electromagnetically induced transparency-like effect. A transparent window is achieved in the transmission spectrum through destructive interference between the air mode resonance and dielectric mode resonance in two one-dimensional photonic crystal structures. The T-sensitive material (SU-8) is used in the coupled system, promoting sensitivity and anti-interference ability. The capability of the system to simultaneously detect a small range of RI and T is demonstrated using three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain simulations and the fitting process. The RI sensitivities for the air and dielectric modes were 215 nm/refractive index unit (RIU) and 0 nm/RIU, respectively. The T sensitivities for the air and dielectric modes were 19 pm/K and -83pm/K, respectively. The sensor resists external interference, enabling it to resist the error caused by readings. The footprint of the sensor is 29×1.8µm² (length×width), contributing to future optical on-chip integration sensor design.

Interaction of two quantum dots mediated by edge modes of coupled-cavity arrays

Topological photonics is a hot topic in recent years. We combine it with the quantum optics and explore the dynamics of two quantum dots (QDs) separated by the finite coupled-cavity arrays (CCAs). The finite CCAs possessing the alternating hopping strengths will lead to the existence of the topological protected edge modes, also called zero energy modes, when the boundaries leave the weak hopping at two ends. Due to the two edge modes, i.e., symmetric and antisymmetric, with nearly degenerate frequencies, the dynamics of two QDs coupled to the cavities at both ends exhibit complicated behaviors. When the CCAs are composed of a large number of cavities, there are two kinds of phenomena: if the coupling between QDs and cavity is weak, two edge modes will cancel each other out and isolate two QDs deeply; if the coupling between QDs and cavities is large compared with hopping strength, the edge mode disappears and two QDs can be connected through extend modes. Importantly, when the CCAs are formed by a small number of cavities, energy can be transferred to each other between two QDs through the edge modes. Such energy transfer is topologically protected, and the period is long and easily controlled. We also investigate the effects of topologically protected quantum entangled states on such system and find that the quantum entanglement can be well kept or generated for appropriate choices of system parameters and initial states. The investigations enrich the manifestation of topological physics and are helpful to apply the topological protection to quantum computation and quantum communication.

Analogue of electromagnetically induced transparency in a metal-dielectric bilayer terahertz metamaterial

We realize and numerically demonstrate the analogue of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) with a high-Q factor in a metal-dielectric bilayer terahertz metamaterial (MM) via bright-bright mode coupling and bright-dark mode coupling. The dielectric MM with silicon dimer rectangular-ring-resonator (Si-DRR) supports either a bright high-Q toroidal dipole resonance (TD) or a dark TD with infinite Q value, while plasmonic MM with metallic rectangular-ring-resonator (M-RR) supports a low-Q electric dipole resonance (ED). The results show that the near-field coupling between the dark TD and bright ED behaves just as that between the two bright modes, which is dependent on the Q factor of the TD resonance. Further, due to the greatly enhanced near-field coupling between the bright ED and dark TD, the coupling distance is significantly extended to about 1.9 times of the wavelength (in media), and robust EIT with large peak value over 0.9 and high Q-factor is achieved. The proposed bilayer MM provides a new EIT platform for design and applications in high-Q cavities, sensing, and slow-light based devices.

Hyperbolic surface wave propagation in mid-infrared metasurfaces with extreme anisotropy

Hyperbolic metasurfaces are characterized by an extreme anisotropy of their effective conductivity tensor, which may be induced at visible frequencies by sculpting metals at the subwavelength scale. In this work, we explore practical implementations of hyperbolic metasurfaces at mid-infrared wavelengths, exploiting devices composed of metals and high-index semiconductor materials, which can support the required field confinement and extreme anisotropy required to realize low loss hyperbolic surface waves. In particular, we discuss the role of broken symmetries in these hybrid metasurfaces to enable large and broadband hyperbolic responses spanning the entire mid-infrared wavelength range (3–30 μm). Our findings pave the way to the development of large scale nanophotonic devices to manipulate mid-infrared light, with applications in nonlinear optics due to the high field confinement, light routing at the nanoscale, thermal control and management, and sub diffraction imaging.

Electromagnetically Induced Transparency-Like Effect by Dark-Dark Mode Coupling

Electromagnetically induced transparency-like (EIT-like) effect is a promising research area for applications of slow light, sensing and metamaterials. The EIT-like effect is generally formed by the destructive interference of bright-dark mode coupling and bright-bright mode coupling. There are seldom reports about EIT-like effect realized by the coupling of two dark modes. In this paper, we numerically and theoretically demonstrated that the EIT-like effect is achieved through dark-dark mode coupling of two waveguide resonances in a compound nanosystem with metal grating and multilayer structure. If we introduce |1⟩, |2⟩ and |3⟩ to represent the surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) resonance, waveguide resonance in layer 2, and waveguide resonance in layer 4, the destructive interference occurs between two pathways of |0⟩→|1⟩→|2⟩ and |0⟩→|1⟩→|2⟩→|3⟩→|2⟩, where |0⟩ is the ground state without excitation. Our work will stimulate more studies on EIT-like effect with dark-dark mode coupling in other systems.

Actively controlled asymmetric edge states for directional wireless power transfer

Wireless power transfer (WPT) has triggered immense research interest in a range of practical applications, including mobile phones, logistic robots, medical-implanted devices and electric vehicles. With the development of WPT devices, efficient long-range and robust WPT is highly desirable but also challenging. In addition, it is also very important to actively control the transmission direction of long-range WPT. Recently, the rise of topological photonics provides a powerful tool for near-field robust control of WPT. Considering the technical requirements of robustness, long-range and directionality, in this work we design and fabricate a one-dimensional quasiperiodic Harper chain and realize the robust directional WPT using asymmetric topological edge states. Specially, by further introducing a power source into the system, we selectively light up two Chinese characters, which are composed of LED lamps at both ends of the chain, to intuitively show the long-range directional WPT. Moreover, by adding variable capacitance diodes into the topological quasiperiodic chain, we present an experimental demonstration of the actively controlled directional WPT based on electrically controllable coil resonators. With the increase in voltage, we measure the transmission at two ends of the chain and observe the change of transmission direction. The realization of an actively tuned topological edge states in the topological quasiperiodic chain will open up a new avenue in the dynamical control of robust long-range WPT.

Wave discrimination at C-band frequencies in microstrip structures inspired by electromagnetically induced transparency

We present the design and practical implementation of a microstrip diplexer based on the wave discrimination property associated with the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT)-like effect. The EIT is a quantum interference phenomenon which happens between two atomic transition pathways and allows wave propagation within a medium's absorption spectrum. Here, we exploit an analogous interference mechanism in a three-port microstrip structure to demonstrate a diplexer based on the EIT-like effect in the microwave regime. Since the transparency is accompanied by a high transmission and strong dispersion characteristics, compact frequency discriminating structures that can resolve nearby frequencies with high isolation can be devised. Our proposed C-band diplexer consists of pairs of unequal open-circuit stubs, which resonate at detuned frequencies and interfere to form the EIT-like passbands for diplexer action. The design is highly compact and scalable in frequency for both PCB and on-chip applications. A prototype of diplexer is fabricated for the center frequencies of lower and upper passbands at 4.6 GHz and 5.5 GHz respectively. The transmission zeros are designed at the complementary channels so that the two passbands are highly isolated presenting the isolation of about 40 dB. The measured insertion loss of lower and upper passband is 0.59 dB and 0.61 dB respectively. Measured input return loss is better than - 15 dB, while the output return losses are well below - 12 dB. Moreover, a decent value of about 200 is achieved for the group refractive index around the EIT-like passbands, which reveals the slow wave characteristics of the proposed EIT-based diplexer.

Designing All-Electric Subwavelength Metasources for Near-Field Photonic Routings

The spatially confined evanescent modes in near-field photonics have been proved to be highly desirable in broad practical scenarios ranging from robust information communications to efficient quantum interactions. However, the feasible applications of these photonics modes are limited due to the lack of fundamental understanding and feasible directional coupling approaches at subwavelengths. Here, we propose all-electric near-field metasources in subwavelength scale without mimicking the polarization features or introducing magnetic dipoles. The near-field selective functions of metasources corresponding to time-reversal, parity-time, and parity symmetries of their inner degree of freedom are exemplified in various optical systems. We experimentally demonstrate the efficient near-field photonic routing achieved in waveguides composed of two kinds of single-negative metamaterials. Our work furthers the understanding of optical near-field symmetry and feasible engineering approaches of directional couplings, which would pave the way for promising integrated near-field photonics devices.

Design of phoxonic virtual waveguides for both electromagnetic and elastic waves based on the self-collimation effect: an application to enhance acousto-optic interaction

The dual beam guides for transverse-electric and transverse-magnetic polarizations of electromagnetic (EM) wave and elastic wave in defect-free phoxonic crystals are reported. The realization for phoxonic virtual waveguides relies on dual flat equifrequency contours (EFCs) enabling self-collimation for EM and elastic waves. As a possible application of our work, the enhanced acousto-optic (AO) interaction in this kind of defect-free phoxonic waveguide, just as it does in defect-based waveguides, is further studied. Results show that obvious shifts of the transmission peaks of EM waves exist for both polarizations during one period of the elastic wave, and single-phonon exchange dominates the AO interaction. This kind of phoxonic virtual waveguide provides an effective platform to enhance AO interaction and exhibits some advantage over defect-based waveguides by properly manipulating the photonic and phononic dispersion surfaces.

Fabry-Pérot modes associated with hyperbolic-like dispersion in dielectric photonic crystals and demonstration of a bending angle sensor at microwave frequencies

The dispersion properties of metamaterials and photonic crystals (PhCs) lead to an intensive research in the development of cavity resonators for the confinement of electromagnetic (e-m) radiation. In this work, we investigate the formation of Fabry-Pérot (FP) modes associated with hyperbolic-like dispersion (HLD) regimes in two-dimensional dielectric PhCs. Conventionally, FP modes are formed using an optical etalon, in which electromagnetic (e-m) waves reflecting from a partially reflecting mirror separated by a distance can interfere constructively and form a resonating mode. The FP mode observed in dielectric PhCs is formed due to the interference of cylindrical wavefronts inside the PhC interface at HLD frequencies. The FP modes in PhCs are surface localized, in which maxima/minima of the electric field lies along the air-PhC interface as a standing wave pattern and decays in air medium. Projected bandstructure, Eigen Frequency Contours (EFC), phase and group index calculations are carried out to explain the formation of FP modes in PhCs under different coupling cases. By varying the PhC dimension, FP modes with different spatial profiles are witnessed and the role of source position in exciting specific mode is demonstrated. The observed FP modes in PhCs are compared with the FP mode in an ideal indefinite slab. Based on the FP resonance in PhCs, a sensing device capable of detecting a bending angle less than [Formula: see text] is demonstrated numerically. The FP modes in PhCs are scalable to other parts of e-m spectra so that the bending angle sensing can be extendable to terahertz and optical domains.

Experimental demonstration of the magnetic field concentration effect in circuit-based magnetic near-zero index media

The electromagnetic field concentration effect can greatly enhance light-matter interaction and is of practical interest in applications such as wireless power transfer and sensors. Zero-index media, unusual materials with near-zero relative permittivity (ɛ) and/or permeability (µ), play a key role in tailoring the properties of electromagnetic waves in unique ways. In this work, circuit-based isotropic µ-near-zero (MNZ) media were theoretically proposed and constructed based on two-dimensional transmission lines with lumped elements. Magnetic field concentration was experimentally demonstrated in this circuit-based system, which could be realized by using a small MNZ scatterer and the results agreed well with simulations. Moreover, the MNZ scatterer exhibited a robust enhancement of the magnetic field regardless of its position and number. By applying the magnetic field concentration effect of MNZ scatterers, we also study the flexible manipulation of the electromagnetic energy along different paths. These results not only provide a versatile platform to study abnormal scattering phenomena in metamaterials, but also offer a route to enhance the magnetic field in planar systems. Moreover, the manipulation of magnetic field under multiple MNZ scatterers may enable their use in new applications, such as in the robust energy transfer with properties of long-range and multiple receivers.

Analogue of electromagnetically induced transparency with high-Q factor in metal-dielectric metamaterials based on bright-bright mode coupling

Based on bright-bright mode coupling, we numerically demonstrated the analogue of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) with a high quality factor (Q) in a stacked metal-dielectric metamaterial (MM) in the near-infrared regime. The optical coupling between a high-Q toroidal dipole mode supported by a silicon rod array and a low-Q dipole mode supported by a silver strip array was investigated from the near-field to the far-field regimes. We realized and significantly enhanced the long-range coupling between the two resonance modes through the MM-induced Fabry-Pérot (FP) effect. EIT with a Q factor greater than 1×10⁴ could be achieved even when the two resonant structures were approximately a wavelength apart. These findings may open new avenues for realizing high-Q EIT, which is useful for photonic devices and biosensing applications. The proposed method can be extended to microwaves and terahertz waves.

Bifunctional resonance effects of classical electromagnetically induced transparency and Fano response using a terahertz metamaterial resonator

A terahertz metamaterial resonator consisting of two rectangular strips embedded in a closed-ring resonator is designed and investigated in this paper that can simultaneously generate the classical electromagnetically induced transparency effect and two Fano resonance modes. The formation of the transparent window and the Fano dips can be attributed to the coupling of the localized resonance modes between the closed-ring resonator and the two embedded rectangular strips. The effect of embedded rectangular strip sizes on the transmitted performance is discussed, and it is found that the resonant performance of the transparent window and Fano effect depends mainly on the length of the rectangular strips in the longitudinal direction. Based on this, two different device applications related to the embedded rectangular strips are discussed. The metamaterial proposed here could open up new avenues toward the control of terahertz waves in many technology-related areas.

Asymmetric topological edge states in a quasiperiodic Harper chain composed of split-ring resonators

Quasiperiodic structures have recently been found to possess salient topological properties. In this Letter, we theoretically and experimentally demonstrate the topological edge states in a quasiperiodic Harper chain composed of split-ring resonators. In a finite-size Harper chain, we find that there is always a pair of edge states in the bandgaps, independent of the number of the resonators. Different from the topological edge states localized at both ends of a periodic chain, this pair of edge states is selectively localized at the left or right end of the quasiperiodic chain at different frequencies. These paired-edge states with asymmetric field distribution can be used for unidirectional propagation. Our results not only provide a versatile platform to study the topological physics beyond the periodic structures but also may be useful in some applications such as selective unidirectional power transfer.

Experimental demonstration of the robust edge states in a split-ring-resonator chain

One of the fascinating topological phenomena is the edge state in one-dimensional system. In this work, the topological photonics in the dimer chains composed by the split ring resonators are revealed based on the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model. The topologically protected photonic edge state is observed directly with the in situ measurements of the local density of states in the topological nontrivial chain. Moreover, we experimentally demonstrate that the edge state localized at both ends is robust against a varied of perturbations, such as losses and disorder. Our results not only provide a versatile platform to study the topological physics in photonics but also may have potential applications in the robust power transfer.