No Arabic abstract
We report on the transition between an Anderson localized regime and a conductive regime in a 1D scattering system with correlated disorder. We show experimentally that when long-range correlations, in the form of a power-law spectral density with power larger than 2, are introduced the localization length becomes much bigger than the sample size and the transmission peaks typical of an Anderson localized system merge into a pass band. As other forms of long-range correlations are known to have the opposite effect, i.e. to enhance localization, our results show that care is needed when discussing the effects of correlations, as different kinds of long-range correlations can give rise to very different behavior.
We review some experimental and theoretical results on the metal-to-insulator transition (MIT) observed at zero magnetic field (B=0) in several two-dimensional electron systems (2DES). Scaling of the conductance and magnetic field dependence of the conductance provide convincing evidence that the MIT is driven by Coulomb interactions among the carriers and is dramatically sensitive to spin polarization of the carriers.
We report Anderson localization in two-dimensional optical waveguide arrays with disorder in waveguide separation introduced along one axis of the array, in an uncorrelated fashion for each waveguide row. We show that the anisotropic nature of such disorder induces a strong localization along both array axes. The degree of localization in the cross-axis remains weaker than that in the direction in which disorder is introduced. This effect is illustrated both theoretically and experimentally.
We prove Anderson localization in a disordered photonic crystal waveguide by measuring the ensemble-averaged localization length which is controlled by the dispersion of the photonic crystal waveguide. In such structures, the localization length shows a 10-fold variation between the fast- and the slow-light regime and, in the latter case, it becomes shorter than the sample length thus giving rise to strongly confined modes. The dispersive behavior of the localization length demonstrates the close relation between Anderson localization and the photon density of states in disordered photonic crystals, which opens a promising route to controlling and exploiting Anderson localization for efficient light confinement.
We review some recent (mostly ours) results on the Anderson localization of light and electron waves in complex disordered systems, including: (i) left-handed metamaterials, (ii) magneto-active optical structures, (iii) graphene superlattices, and (iv) nonlinear dielectric media. First, we demonstrate that left-handed metamaterials can significantly suppress localization of light and lead to an anomalously enhanced transmission. This suppression is essential at the long-wavelength limit in the case of normal incidence, at specific angles of oblique incidence (Brewster anomaly), and in the vicinity of the zero-epsilon or zero-mu frequencies for dispersive metamaterials. Remarkably, in disordered samples comprised of alternating normal and left-handed metamaterials, the reciprocal Lyapunov exponent and reciprocal transmittance increment can differ from each other. Second, we study magneto-active multilayered structures, which exhibit nonreciprocal localization of light depending on the direction of propagation and on the polarization. At resonant frequencies or realizations, such nonreciprocity results in effectively unidirectional transport of light. Third, we discuss the analogy between the wave propagation through multilayered samples with metamaterials and the charge transport in graphene, which enables a simple physical explanation of unusual conductive properties of disordered graphene superlatices. We predict disorder-induced resonances of the transmission coefficient at oblique incidence of the Dirac quasiparticles. Finally, we demonstrate that an interplay of nonlinearity and disorder in dielectric media can lead to bistability of individual localized states excited inside the medium at resonant frequencies. This results in nonreciprocity of the wave transmission and unidirectional transport of light.
Precision is a virtue throughout science in general and in optics in particular where carefully fabricated nanometer-scale devices hold great promise for both classical and quantum photonics [1-6]. In such nanostructures, unavoidable imperfections often impose severe performance limits but, in certain cases, disorder may enable new functionalities [7]. Here we demonstrate on-chip random nanolasers where the cavity feedback is provided by the intrinsic disorder in a semiconductor photonic-crystal waveguide, leading to Anderson localization of light [8]. This enables highly efficient and broadband tunable lasers with very small mode volumes. We observe an intriguing interplay between gain, dispersion-controlled slow light, and disorder, which determines the cross-over from ballistic transport to Anderson localization. Such a behavior is a unique feature of non-conservative random media that enables the demonstration of all-optical control of random lasing. Our statistical analysis shows a way towards ultimate thresholdless random nanolasers.