Slow light in metamaterial heterostructures

Kosmas L Tsakmakidis; Ortwin Hess

doi:10.1117/12.772225

29 January 2008 Slow light in metamaterial heterostructures

Kosmas L Tsakmakidis, Ortwin Hess

Proceedings Volume 6904, Advances in Slow and Fast Light; 690405 (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.772225
Event: Integrated Optoelectronic Devices 2008, 2008, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

A competent method for slowing and completely stopping light, based on wave propagation along an adiabatically tapered negative-refractive-index metamaterial heterostructure, is presented. It is analytically shown that, in principle, this method simultaneously allows for broad bandwidth operation (since it does not rely on group index resonances), large delay-bandwidth products (since a wave packet can be completely stopped and buffered indefinitely) and high, almost 100%, in/out-coupling efficiencies. Moreover, by nature, the presented scheme invokes solid-state materials and, as such, is not subject to low-temperature or atomic coherence limitations. A wave analysis, which demonstrates the halting of a monochromatic field component travelling along the heterostructure, is followed by a corresponding ray analysis that illustrates the trapping of the associated light-ray and the formation of a double light-ray cone ('optical clepsydra'). This method for trapping photons conceivably opens the way to a multitude of hybrid, optoelectronic devices to be used in 'quantum information' processing, communication networks and signal processors, and may herald a new realm of combined metamaterials and slow light research.

Citation Download Citation

Kosmas L Tsakmakidis and Ortwin Hess "Slow light in metamaterial heterostructures", Proc. SPIE 6904, Advances in Slow and Fast Light, 690405 (29 January 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.772225

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