PT-symmetric epsilon-near-zero plasmonic waveguides

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Plasmonic waveguides exhibit an effective epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) response at their cut-off frequency. In this work, we demonstrate a nanoscale parity-time (PT) symmetric nanophotonic device based on gain medium embedded inside the nanochannel of a plasmonic waveguide. The effect of introducing gain is more than loss compensation and can cause a plethora of new interesting phenomena. In particular, the interplay between loss and gain will lead to super scattering at the exceptional point obtained close to the ENZ resonance frequency. This interesting effect is made possible by introducing an active material with small gain coefficient inside the plasmonic waveguide. When the proposed active waveguide is illuminated by two counter-propagating plane waves, the output ENZ power becomes unidirectional. In addition, the ENZ response can be dynamically modulated from strong scattering to perfect absorption just by changing the phase difference between the two incident waves. Strong fields are obtained in the nanochannel of the proposed PT-symmetric plasmonic waveguide, which are found to drastically boost optical nonlinearities, leading to strong optical bistability and switching at the ENZ resonance.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publication2017 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium, Proceedings
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages691-692
Number of pages2
ISBN (Electronic)9781538632840
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 18 2017
Event2017 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and USNC-URSI Radio Science Meeting, APSURSI 2017 - San Diego, United States
Duration: Jul 9 2017Jul 14 2017

Publication series

Name2017 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium, Proceedings
Volume2017-January

Other

Other2017 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and USNC-URSI Radio Science Meeting, APSURSI 2017
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySan Diego
Period7/9/177/14/17

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Radiation
  • Computer Networks and Communications
  • Instrumentation

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