No Arabic abstract
We experimentally and theoretically challenge the concept of coherent perfect absorption (CPA) as a narrow frequency resonant mechanism associated with scattering processes that respect scale-invariance. Using a microwave platform, consisting of a lossy nonlinear resonator coupled to two interrogating antennas, we show that a coherent incident excitation can trigger a self-induced perfect absorption once its intensity exceeds a critical value. Importantly, a (near) perfect absorption persists for a broad band frequency range around the nonlinear CPA condition. Its origin is traced to a quartic behavior that the absorbance spectrum acquires in the proximity of a CPA associated with a new kind of exceptional point degeneracy related to the zeros of the nonlinear scattering operator.
We theoretically study the conditions under which two laser fields can undergo Coherent Perfect Absorption (CPA) when shined on a single-mode bi-directional optical cavity coupled with two two- level quantum emitters (natural atoms, artificial atoms, quantum dots, qubits, etc.). In addition to being indirectly coupled through the cavity-mediated field, in our Tavis-Cummings model the two quantum emitters (QEs) are allowed to interact directly via the dipole-dipole interaction (DDI). Under the mean-field approximation and low-excitation assumption, in this work, we particularly focus on the impact of DDI on the existence of CPA in the presence of decoherence mechanisms (spontaneous emission from the QEs and the leakage of photons from the cavity walls). We also present a dressed-state analysis of the problem to discuss the underlying physics related to the allowed polariton state transitions in the Jaynes-Tavis-Cummings ladder. As a key result, we find that in the strong-coupling regime of cavity quantum electrodynamics, the strong DDI and the emitter-cavity detuning can act together to achieve the CPA at two laser frequencies tunable by the inter-atomic separation which are not possible to attain with a single QE in the presence of detuning. Our CPA results are potentially applicable in building quantum memories that are an essential component in long-distance quantum networking.
We have shown both experimentally and theoretically that polarization-independent broad-band absorption of electromagnetic waves by an overdense plasma, caused by surface plasmon-polaritons (SPP) excitation, can be achieved due to combination of two factors: a non-zero angle of incidence and a two-dimensional circular diffraction grating placed at a properly chosen distance in front of the plasma boundary. Direct detection of SPP has been achieved for the first time using a miniature antenna imbedded in the plasma.
Coherent perfect absorber (CPA) was proposed as the time-reversed counterpart to laser: a resonator containing lossy medium instead of gain medium can absorb the coherent optical fields completely. Here, we exploit a monolayer graphene to realize the CPA in a non-resonant manner. It is found that quasi-CPA point exists in the terahertz regime for suspending monolayer graphene, and the CPA can be implemented with the assistant of proper phase modulation among two incident beams at the quasi-CPA frequencies. The graphene based CPA is found of broadband angular selectivity: CPA point splits into two frequency bands for the orthogonal $s$ and $p$ polarizations at oblique incidence, and the two bands cover a wide frequency range starting from zero frequency. Furthermore, the coherent absorption can be tuned substantially by varying the gate-controlled Fermi energy. The findings of CPA with non-resonant graphene sheet can be generalized for potential applications in terahertz/infrared detections and signal processing with two-dimensional optoelectronic materials.
We propose a tunable coherent perfect absorber based on ultrathin nonlinear metasurfaces. The nonlinear metasurface is made of plasmonic nanoantennas coupled to an epsilon-near-zero material with a large optical nonlinearity. The coherent perfect absorption is achieved by controlling the relative phases of the input beams. We show that the optical response of the nonlinear metasurface can be tuned from a complete to a partial absorption by changing the intensity of the pump beam. The proposed nonlinear metasurface can be used to design optically tunable thermal emitters, modulators, and sensors.
The ability to feed energy into a system, or - equivalently - to drive that system with an external input is a fundamental aspect of light-matter interaction. The key concept in many photonic applications is the critical coupling condition: at criticality, all the energy fed to the system via an input channel is dissipated within the system itself. Although this idea was crucial to enhance the efficiency of many devices, it was never considered in the context of systems operating in a non-perturbative regime. In this so-called strong coupling regime, the matter and light degrees of freedom are in fact mixed into dressed states, leading to new eigenstates called polaritons. Here we demonstrate that the strong coupling regime and the critical coupling condition can indeed coexist; in this situation, which we term strong critical coupling, all the incoming energy is converted into polaritons. A semiclassical theory - equivalently applicable to acoustics or mechanics - reveals that the strong critical coupling corresponds to a special curve in the phase diagram of the coupled light-matter oscillators. In the more general case of a system radiating via two scattering ports, the phenomenology displayed is that of coherent perfect absorption (CPA), which is then naturally understood and described in the framework of critical coupling. Most importantly, we experimentally verify polaritonic CPA in a semiconductor-based intersubband-polariton photonic-crystal membrane resonator. This result opens new avenues in the exploration of polariton physics, making it possible to control the pumping efficiency of a system almost independently of its Rabi energy, i.e., of the energy exchange rate between the electromagnetic field and the material transition.