TY - JOUR
T1 - Extended slow-light field enhancement in positive-index/negative-index heterostructures
AU - Foteinopoulou, S.
AU - Vigneron, J. P.
PY - 2013/11/22
Y1 - 2013/11/22
N2 - We present a biwaveguide paradigm composed of joined positive-index- material (PIM)/negative-index-material (NIM) slabs, demonstrating ultraslow-light propagation stemming from the competing propagation disposition in the PIM and NIM regions. We report for the first time a mesoscopic extended electromagnetic (EM) enhancement covering regions of the order of the free-space wavelength, enabled by the slow-light mode in our system. Our dynamic numerical results are consistent with our developed theoretical model, predicting an EM energy accumulation reminiscent of a charging capacitor. Our analysis reveals that spatial compression is not a requirement for EM enhancement in slow-light systems and stresses the merits of a high coupling efficiency, strong temporal compression, monomodality, and modal index bandwidth - all present in our proposed paradigm. Furthermore, we show that the heterostructure waveguide mode is an extraordinary entity with a unique energy velocity, which is opposite to the Poynting vector in one of the participant waveguides. We believe that these results will inspire new slow-light platforms relevant to the collective harvesting of strong light-matter interactions.
AB - We present a biwaveguide paradigm composed of joined positive-index- material (PIM)/negative-index-material (NIM) slabs, demonstrating ultraslow-light propagation stemming from the competing propagation disposition in the PIM and NIM regions. We report for the first time a mesoscopic extended electromagnetic (EM) enhancement covering regions of the order of the free-space wavelength, enabled by the slow-light mode in our system. Our dynamic numerical results are consistent with our developed theoretical model, predicting an EM energy accumulation reminiscent of a charging capacitor. Our analysis reveals that spatial compression is not a requirement for EM enhancement in slow-light systems and stresses the merits of a high coupling efficiency, strong temporal compression, monomodality, and modal index bandwidth - all present in our proposed paradigm. Furthermore, we show that the heterostructure waveguide mode is an extraordinary entity with a unique energy velocity, which is opposite to the Poynting vector in one of the participant waveguides. We believe that these results will inspire new slow-light platforms relevant to the collective harvesting of strong light-matter interactions.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84888329495&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevB.88.195144
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevB.88.195144
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84888329495
SN - 1098-0121
VL - 88
JO - Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
JF - Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
IS - 19
M1 - 195144
ER -