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Progress in Electromagnetic Research Symposium

Coherent control of light-matter interactions in metamaterials: absorption and beyond

Jianfa Zhang

Published Aug 1, 2016• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

In the past few years, a new phenomenon of absorption, called “coherent perfect absorption (CPA)”, has attracted significant attentions [1, 2]. CPA relies on the coherent interference of light. In a typical CPA system, two coherent beams are incident on the absorber from opposite sides and the reflected light of one beam interfere with the transmitted light of the other and vice versa. CPA was first realized using a silicon slab cavity, and has then been reported in composite absorptive films, planar metamaterials, graphene, waveguides and so on.

DOI
10.1109/piers.2016.7734805

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In the past few years, a new phenomenon of absorption, called “coherent perfect absorption (CPA)”, has attracted significant attentions [1, 2]. CPA relies on the coherent interference of light. In a typical CPA system, two coherent beams are incident on the absorber from opposite sides and the reflected light of one beam interfere with the transmitted light of the other and vice versa. CPA was first realized using a silicon slab cavity, and has then been reported in composite absorptive films, planar metamaterials, graphene, waveguides and so on.
Perfect absorption of light critically affects light-matter interaction for various applications. Coherent perfect absorbers (CPA) gain the unique capability of controlling light with light in a linear fashion. Multi-color CPAs [Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 033901] are highly desirable for broadband and nonlinear light-to-light coherent control, however, the experimental demonstration has still remained elusive. Here we experimentally observe a dual-color version of CPA (DC-CPA) through a second harmonic generation in a single whispering-gallery-mode microcavity. The DC-CPA enables simultaneous perfect absorption of both the incoming fundamental wave and its second harmonic. Similar to its linear counterpart, coherent control in the DC-CPA can be also realized by tuning the relative phase and intensity between the two-colored waves through nonlinear interference instead of the linear one. This scheme breaks the linear boundary of the traditional CPA into a multi-frequency domain and paves the way toward all-optically signal processing and quantum information.
Perfect absorption of light critically affects light-matter interaction for various applications. Coherent perfect absorbers (CPAs) gain the unique capability of controlling light with light in a linear fashion. Multicolor CPAs [S. Longhi, Time-reversed optical parametric oscillation, Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 033901 (2011)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.107.033901] are highly desirable for broadband and nonlinear light-to-light coherent control but the experimental demonstration has still remained elusive. Here, for the first time, we experimentally observe a dual-color version of a CPA (DC-CPA) through a second harmonic generation in a single whispering-gallery-mode microcavity. The DC-CPA enables simultaneous perfect absorption of both the incoming fundamental wave and its second harmonic. Similar to its linear counterpart, coherent control in the DC-CPA can also be realized by tuning the relative phase and intensity between the two-colored waves through nonlinear interference instead of the linear one. This scheme breaks the linear boundary of the traditional CPA into a multifrequency domain and paves the way toward all-optical signal processing and quantum information.
Coherent perfect absorption (CPA) was introduced as a classical optics phenomenon of a standing-wave absorption by a subwavelength film. In this paper, we develop a theory of CPA of quantized standing waves taking account of a subwavelength thickness of the absorber. This approach allows us to merge all known quantum effects of CPA under a single theory and introduce other regimes of CPA including CPA of NOON states with arbitrary number of entangled photons, orthogonally squeezed vacuum states, continuous variable entangled states, and Schr\"odinger cat states. Detailed analysis of the quantum regime of CPA sheds light on fundamental aspects of quantum light dissipation and its practical implementation in quantum optics and quantum information.
The interplay between interference and absorption leads to interesting phenomena like coherent perfect absorption and coherent perfect transparency (CPA and CPT), which can be exploited for fully optical modulation. While it is known that it is possible to harness CPA and CPT for switching a strong signal beam with a weak control beam, it is not immediate that this process suffers from a fundamental compromise between the device efficiency (quantified by device loss and modulation depth) and the asymmetry between signal and control intensity desired for operation. This article quantifies this compromise and outlines a possible way to overcome it by means of a combination of optical gain and loss in the same photonic component. A general formulation and a specific device realization are both discussed.
Abstract We numerically and theoretically show that a narrow-band coherent perfect absorption (CPA) can be realized in simple bright–bright mode coupling metamaterials. By adjusting the geometric parameters of metamaterial structures, the Q factor can reach 102 at 1552.8 nm with absorption exceeding 99.99%. Results show that the small resonant detuning between the two bright modes plays a crucial role in forming the CPA. Dissipation loss is responsible for tailoring the performance of CPA while the coupling strength can be used to tune the CPA resonance point to the expected wavelength. These results show the capability of metamaterials for sensors, coherence filters, modulators and ultrafast optical data processing in coherent networks.
Abstract A coherent perfect absorption (CPA) scheme is theoretically analyzed in a three‐cavity system comprising two linear cavities and an auxiliary cavity. On account of the quantum interference stemming from the presence of the coupled auxiliary cavity, CPA can be realized by appropriately tuning system parameters. It is also demonstrated that coupling to the auxiliary cavity is the necessary and sufficient condition for the system to exhibit CPA behavior. Furthermore, by adjusting the relative phase between the input fields, asymmetric destructive interference occurs between the two cavity sides. Consequently, the output field intensity, which depends on the relative phase, can be utilized to achieve nonreciprocal opacity. The results may provide a purely optical platform for application in the development of photon control.