Quadrupole topological insulator is a symmetry-protected higher-order topological phase with intriguing topology of Wannier bands, which, however, has not yet been realized in plasmonic metamaterials. Here, we propose a lattice of plasmon-polaritonic nanocavities which can realize quadrupole topological insulators by exploiting the geometry-dependent sign-reversal of the couplings between the daisy-like nanocavities. The designed system exhibits various topological and trivial phases as characterized by the nested Wannier bands and the topological quadrupole moment which can be controlled by the distances between the nanocavities. Our study opens a pathway toward plasmonic topological metamaterials with quadrupole topology.
In this work, we theoretically find that coherent perfect absorption (CPA) and laser modes can be realized in a two-dimensional cylindrical structure composed of conjugate metamaterials (CMs). The required phase factors of CMs for achieving CPA and laser modes are determined by the geometric size of the CM cylinder, which is a unique feature compared with other non-Hermitian optical systems. Based on this property, we also demonstrate that CPA and laser modes can exist simultaneously in a CM cylinder with an extremely large size, where the excitations of CPA and laser modes depend on the angular momentum of coherent incident light. Therefore, compared with the well known parity time symmetry, our work opens up a brand-new path to obtaining CPA and laser modes, and is a significant advance in non-Hermitian optical systems.
By introducing a new mechanism based on purely imaginary conjugate metamaterials (PICMs), we reveal that bidirectional negative refraction and planar focusing can be obtained using a pair of PICMs, which is a breakthrough to the unidirectional limit in parity time (PT) symmetric systems. Compared with PT symmetric systems that require two different kinds of materials, the proposed negative refraction can be realized with only two identical media. In addition, asymmetric excitation with bidirectional total transmission is observed in our PICM system. Therefore, a new way to realize negative refraction is presented, with more properties than those in PT symmetric systems.
By modulating transmission function of a weak probe field via a strong control standing wave, an electromagnetically induced grating can be created in the probe channel. Such a nonmaterial grating may lead to self-imaging of ultra-cold atoms or molecules in the Fresnel near-field regime. This work may offer a nondestructive and lensless way to image ultra-cold atoms or molecules.
Using the idea of transformation optics, we propose a metamaterial device that serves as a frequency-selective super-absorber, which consists of an absorbing core material coated with a shell of isotropic double negative metamaterial. For a fixed volume, the absorption cross section of the super-absorber can be made arbitrarily large at one frequency. The double negative shell serves to amplify the evanescent tail of the high order incident cylindrical waves, which induces strong scattering and absorption. Our conclusion is supported by both analytical Mie theory and numerical finite element simulation. Interesting applications of such a device are discussed.
Based on the concept of complementary media, we propose an invisibility cloak operating at a finite frequency that can cloak an object with a pre-specified shape and size within a certain distance outside the shell. The cloak comprises of a dielectric core, and an anti-object embedded inside a negative index shell. The cloaked object is not blinded by the cloaking shell since it lies outside the cloak. Full-wave simulations in two dimensions have been performed to verify the cloaking effect.
A kind of transformation media, which we shall call the anti-cloak, is proposed to partially defeat the cloaking effect of the invisibility cloak. An object with an outer shell of anti-cloak is visible to the outside if it is coated with the invisible cloak. Fourier-Bessel analysis confirms this finding by showing that external electromagnetic wave can penetrate into the interior of the invisibility cloak with the help of the anti-cloak.
A general method is proposed to design the cylindrical cloak, concentrator and superscatterer with arbitrary cross section. The method is demonstrated by the design of a perfect electrical conductor (PEC) reshaper which is able to reshape a PEC cylinder arbitrarily by combining the concept of cloak, concentrator and superscatterer together. Numerical simulations are performed to demonstrate its properties.
Based on the concept of complementary media, we propose a novel design which can enhance the electromagnetic wave scattering cross section of an object so that it looks like a scatterer bigger than the scale of the device. Such a ``superscatterer is realized by coating a negative refractive material shell on a perfect electrical conductor cylinder. The scattering field is analytically obtained by Mie scattering theory, and confirmed by full-wave simulations numerically. Such a device can be regarded as a cylindrical concave mirror for all angles.
Based on the transformation media theory, the authors propose a way to replace a wide window with a narrow slit filled with designed metamaterial to achieve the same transmittance as the one of the window. Numerical simulations for a two dimensional case are given to illustrate the ideas and the performance of the design.
