Energy of propagating electromagnetic waves can be fully absorbed in a thin lossy layer, but only in a narrow frequency band, as follows from the causality principle. On the other hand, it appears that there are no fundamental limitations on broadband matching of thin resonant absorbing layers. However, known thin absorbers produce significant reflections outside of the resonant absorption band. In this paper, we explore possibilities to realize a thin absorbing layer that produces no reflected waves in a very wide frequency range, while the transmission coefficient has a narrow peak of full absorption. Here we show, both theoretically and experimentally, that a thin resonant absorber, invisible in reflection in a very wide frequency range, can be realized if one and the same resonant mode of the absorbing array unit cells is utilized to create both electric and magnetic responses. We test this concept using chiral particles in each unit cell, arranged in a periodic planar racemic array, utilizing chirality coupling in each unit cell but compensating the field coupling at the macroscopic level. We prove that the concept and the proposed realization approach also can be used to create nonreflecting layers for full control of transmitted fields. Our results can have a broad range of potential applications over the entire electromagnetic spectrum including, for example, perfect ultracompact wave filters and selective multifrequency sensors.

From studies of exotic quantum many-body phenomena to applications in spintronics and quantum information processing, topological materials are poised to revolutionize the condensed-matter frontier and the landscape of modern materials science. Accordingly, there is a broad effort to realize topologically nontrivial electronic and photonic materials for fundamental science as well as practical applications. In this work, we demonstrate the first simultaneous site- and time-resolved measurements of a time-reversal-invariant topological band structure, which we realize in a radio-frequency photonic circuit. We control band-structure topology via local permutation of a traveling-wave capacitor-inductor network, increasing robustness by going beyond the tight-binding limit. We observe a gapped density of states consistent with a modified Hofstadter spectrum at a flux per plaquette of $\varphi =\pi /2$. In situ probes of the band gaps reveal spatially localized bulk states and delocalized edge states. Time-resolved measurements reveal dynamical separation of localized edge excitations into spin-polarized currents. The radio-frequency circuit paradigm is naturally compatible with nonlocal coupling schemes, allowing us to implement a Möbius strip topology inaccessible in conventional systems. This room-temperature experiment illuminates the origins of topology in band structure, and when combined with circuit quantum electrodynamics techniques, it provides a direct path to topologically ordered quantum matter.

In 2009, Briane and Milton proved mathematically the existence of three-dimensional isotropic metamaterials with a classical Hall coefficient that is negative with respect to that of all of the metamaterial constituents. Here, we significantly simplify their blueprint towards an architecture composed of only a single-constituent material in vacuum or air, which can be seen as a special type of porosity. We show numerically that the sign of the Hall voltage is determined by a separation parameter between adjacent tori. This qualitative behavior is robust even for only a small number of metamaterial unit cells. The combination of simplification and robustness brings experimental verification of this striking sign inversion into reach. Furthermore, we provide a simple intuitive explanation of the underlying physical mechanism.

In contrast to strong plasmonic scattering from metal particles or structures in metal films, we show that patterns of arbitrary shape fabricated out of multilayer hyperbolic metamaterials become invisible within a chosen band of optical frequencies. This is due to anomalously weak scattering when the in-plane permittivity of the multilayer hyperbolic metamaterials is tuned to match with the surrounding medium. This new phenomenon is described theoretically and demonstrated experimentally by optical characterization of various patterns in Au-Si multilayer hyperbolic metamaterials. This anomalously weak scattering is insensitive to pattern sizes, shapes, and incident angles, and has potential applications in scattering cross-section engineering, optical encryption, low-observable conductive probes, and optoelectric devices.

Toroidal multipoles are the terms missing in the standard multipole expansion; they are usually overlooked due to their relatively weak coupling to the electromagnetic fields. Here, we propose and theoretically study all-dielectric metamaterials of a special class that represent a simple electromagnetic system supporting toroidal dipolar excitations in the THz part of the spectrum. We show that resonant transmission and reflection of such metamaterials is dominated by toroidal dipole scattering, the neglect of which would result in a misunderstanding interpretation of the metamaterials’ macroscopic response. Because of the unique field configuration of the toroidal mode, the proposed metamaterials could serve as a platform for sensing or enhancement of light absorption and optical nonlinearities.

Implementation of abrupt phase discontinuities along a surface has been the theme of recent research on electromagnetic metasurfaces. Simple functionalities such as reflecting, refracting, or focusing plane waves have been demonstrated with devices featuring phase discontinuities, but optical surfaces allowing independent magnitude and phase control on the scattered waves have yet to emerge. In this paper, we propose the first true optical Huygens’ surface, which explicitly utilizes orthogonal electric and magnetic responses to realize total control on an optical surface’s local reflection coefficients. This extends the functionality of metasurfaces to an unprecedented level. We first demonstrate that a nanorod gap-surface plasmon resonator can act as a Huygens’ source. Thereafter, by properly tuning and rotating these resonators, we realize arbitrary reflection optical metasurfaces—surfaces for which the local reflection coefficients can be independently tailored in both magnitude and phase. We demonstrate the versatility of this approach through designs of a metasurface that asymmetrically reflects two copolarized beams and a Dolph-Tschebyscheff optical reflectarray.

In this paper, we investigate a type of anisotropic, acoustic complementary metamaterial (CMM) and its application in restoring acoustic fields distorted by aberrating layers. The proposed quasi two-dimensional (2D), nonresonant CMM consists of unit cells formed by membranes and side branches with open ends. Simultaneously, anisotropic and negative density is achieved by assigning membranes facing each direction ($x$ and $y$ directions) different thicknesses, while the compressibility is tuned by the side branches. Numerical examples demonstrate that the CMM, when placed adjacent to a strongly aberrating layer, could acoustically cancel out that aberrating layer. This leads to dramatically reduced acoustic field distortion and enhanced sound transmission, therefore virtually removing the layer in a noninvasive manner. In the example where a focused beam is studied, using the CMM, the acoustic intensity at the focus is increased from 28% to 88% of the intensity in the control case (in the absence of the aberrating layer and the CMM). The proposed acoustic CMM has a wide realm of potential applications, such as cloaking, all-angle antireflection layers, ultrasound imaging, detection, and treatment through aberrating layers.

We introduce a new “universality class” of artificial optical media—photonic hypercrystals. These hyperbolic metamaterials, with periodic spatial variation of dielectric permittivity on subwavelength scale, combine the features of optical metamaterials and photonic crystals. In particular, surface waves supported by a hypercrystal possess the properties of both the optical Tamm states in photonic crystals and surface-plasmon polaritons at the metal-dielectric interface.

Photoelectric properties of noncentrosymmetric, similarly oriented metallic nanoparticles embedded in a homogeneous semiconductor matrix are theoretically studied. Because of the asymmetric shape of the nanoparticle boundary, photoelectron emission acquires a preferred direction, resulting in a photocurrent flow in that direction when nanoparticles are uniformly illuminated by a homogeneous plane wave. This effect is a direct analogy of the photogalvanic (or bulk photovoltaic) effect known to exist in media with noncentrosymmetric crystal structure, such as doped lithium niobate or bismuth ferrite, but is several orders of magnitude stronger. Termed the giant plasmonic photogalvanic effect, the reported phenomenon is valuable for characterizing photoemission and photoconductive properties of plasmonic nanostructures and can find many uses for photodetection and photovoltaic applications.

By combining the advantages of both a metallic metamaterial and a dielectric interlayer, we demonstrate the general mechanism to construct the dispersion-free metastructure, in which the intrinsic dispersion of the metallic structures is perfectly cancelled out by the thickness-dependent dispersion of the dielectric spacing layer. As examples to apply this concept, a broadband quarter-wave plate and a half-wave plate are demonstrated. By selecting the structural parameters, the polarization state of light can be freely tuned across a broad frequency range, and all of the polarization states on the Poincaré sphere can be realized dispersion free.

Spatial tailoring of the material constitutive properties is a well-known strategy to mold the local flow of given observables in different physical domains. Coordinate-transformation-based methods (e.g., transformation optics) offer a powerful and systematic approach to design anisotropic, spatially inhomogeneous artificial materials (metamaterials) capable of precisely manipulating wave-based (electromagnetic, acoustic, elastic) as well as diffusion-based (heat) phenomena in a desired fashion. However, as versatile as these approaches have been, most designs have thus far been limited to serving single-target functionalities in a given physical domain. Here, we present a step towards a “transformation multiphysics” framework that allows independent and simultaneous manipulation of multiple physical phenomena. As a proof of principle of this new scheme, we design and synthesize (in terms of realistic material constituents) a metamaterial shell that simultaneously behaves as a thermal concentrator and an electrical “invisibility cloak.” Our numerical results open up intriguing possibilities in the largely unexplored phase space of multifunctional metadevices, with a wide variety of potential applications to electrical, magnetic, acoustic, and thermal scenarios.

Surface impedance is an important concept in classical wave systems such as photonic crystals (PCs). For example, the condition of an interface state formation in the interfacial region of two different one-dimensional PCs is simply$Z_{\mathrm{SL}}+Z_{\mathrm{SR}}=0$, where $Z_{\mathrm{SL}}(Z_{\mathrm{SR}})$is the surface impedance of the semi-infinite PC on the left-hand (right-hand) side of the interface. Here, we also show a rigorous relation between the surface impedance of a one-dimensional PC and its bulk properties through the geometrical (Zak) phases of the bulk bands, which can be used to determine the existence or nonexistence of interface states at the interface of the two PCs in a particular band gap. Our results hold for any PCs with inversion symmetry, independent of the frequency of the gap and the symmetry point where the gap lies in the Brillouin zone. Our results provide new insights into the relationship between surface scattering properties, the bulk band properties, and the formation of interface states, which in turn can enable the design of systems with interface states in a rational manner.

Here, we introduce the concept of magnetic localized surface plasmons (LSPs), magnetic dipole modes that are supported by cylindrical metal structures corrugated by very long, curved grooves. The resonance wavelength is dictated by the length of the grooves, allowing us to tune it to values much larger than the size of the particle. Moreover, magnetic LSPs also exist for extremely thin metal disks and, therefore, they could be used to devise metasurfaces with magnetic functionalities. Experimental evidence of the existence of these magnetic LSPs in the microwave regime is also presented, although the concept is very general and could be applied to terahertz or infrared frequencies.

Searching for better materials for plasmonic and metamaterial applications is an inverse design problem where theoretical studies are necessary. Using basic models of impurity doping in semiconductors, transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) are identified as low-loss plasmonic materials in the near-infrared wavelength range. A more sophisticated theoretical study would help not only to improve the properties of TCOs but also to design further lower-loss materials. In this study, optical functions of one such TCO, gallium-doped zinc oxide (GZO), are studied both experimentally and by first-principles density-functional calculations. Pulsed-laser-deposited GZO films are studied by the x-ray diffraction and generalized spectroscopic ellipsometry. Theoretical studies are performed by the total-energy-minimization method for the equilibrium atomic structure of GZO and random phase approximation with the quasiparticle gap correction. Plasma excitation effects are also included for optical functions. This study identifies mechanisms other than doping, such as alloying effects, that significantly influence the optical properties of GZO films. It also indicates that ultraheavy Ga doping of ZnO results in a new alloy material, rather than just degenerately doped ZnO. This work is the first step to achieve a fundamental understanding of the connection between material, structural, and optical properties of highly doped TCOs to tailor those materials for various plasmonic applications.

We have prepared meta-atoms based on radio-frequency superconducting quantum-interference devices (rf SQUIDs) and examined their tunability with dc magnetic field, rf current, and temperature. rf SQUIDs are superconducting split-ring resonators in which the usual capacitance is supplemented with a Josephson junction, which introduces strong nonlinearity in the rf properties. We find excellent agreement between the data and a model that regards the Josephson junction as the resistively and capacitively shunted junction. A magnetic field tunability of $80\mathrm{THz}/\mathrm{G}$ at 12 GHz is observed, a total tunability of $56\%$ is achieved, and a unique electromagnetically induced transparency feature at intermediate excitation powers is demonstrated for the first time. An rf SQUID metamaterial is shown to have qualitatively the same behavior as a single rf SQUID with regard to dc flux and temperature tuning.

Active electromagnetic cloaking uses an array of elementary sources to cancel the scattered fields created by an object. An active interior cloak does this by placing the sources along the boundary of the object. This process can be thought of as introducing a discontinuity in the field to cancel out the scattered field by the object. Here, an experimental version of a thin active cloak at microwave frequencies is demonstrated for an aluminum cylinder with a radius of $0.56\lambda$. The cloak consists of a 12-element magnetic-dipole array. By controlling the weights of the current on each element of the array, the scattering off of the cylinder is reduced in the backward and forward directions. The ability to disguise the aluminum cylinder as another object by varying the weights of the dipole array is also demonstrated. Finally, potential ways of overcoming the constraint of requiring a priori knowledge of the incident field leading to camouflaging-type behavior are discussed.

We discuss the global scattering response of invisibility cloaks over the entire electromagnetic spectrum, from static to very high frequencies. Based on linearity, causality, and energy conservation, we show that the total extinction and scattering, integrated over all wavelengths, of any linear, passive, causal, and nondiamagnetic cloak, necessarily increase compared to the uncloaked case. In light of this general principle, we provide a quantitative measure to compare the global performance of different cloaking techniques and we discuss solutions to minimize the global scattering signature of an object using thin, superconducting shells. Our results provide important physical insights on how invisibility cloaks operate and affect the global scattering of an object, suggesting ways to defeat countermeasures aimed at detecting cloaked objects using short impinging pulses.

We experimentally demonstrate that a thin (approximately $150\mathrm{\text{−}}\mathrm{nm}$) film of vanadium dioxide (${\mathrm{VO}}_2$) deposited on sapphire has an anomalous thermal emittance profile when heated, which arises because of the optical interaction between the film and the substrate when the ${\mathrm{VO}}_2$ is at an intermediate state of its insulator-metal transition (IMT). Within the IMT region, the ${\mathrm{VO}}_2$ film comprises nanoscale islands of the metal and dielectric phases and can thus be viewed as a natural, disordered metamaterial. This structure displays “perfect” blackbodylike thermal emissivity over a narrow wavelength range (approximately $40{\mathrm{cm}}^{-1}$), surpassing the emissivity of our black-soot reference. We observe large broadband negative differential thermal emittance over a $>10°\mathrm{C}$ range: Upon heating, the ${\mathrm{VO}}_2\mathrm{\text{−}}\mathrm{\text{sapphire}}$ structure emits less thermal radiation and appears colder on an infrared camera. Our experimental approach allows for a direct measurement and extraction of wavelength- and temperature-dependent thermal emittance. We anticipate that emissivity engineering with thin-film geometries comprising ${\mathrm{VO}}_2$ and other thermochromic materials will find applications in infrared camouflage, thermal regulation, and infrared tagging and labeling.

Waves, of wavelength $\lambda$, transmit poorly through apertures of dimensions $\ell \ll \lambda$. Here it is shown that coupling of a subwavelength aperture to an electromagnetic oscillator makes it possible for a focused, diffraction-limited beam that impinges on the aperture to undergo perfect transmission. Ignoring nonradiative losses, and for apertures with closed boundaries in a metallic screen, the transmitted power at the oscillator’s natural frequency is enhanced by a factor of $(\lambda /\ell {)}^6$ compared with the nonresonant case. As a nontrivial extension to apertures with open boundaries, an analytically solvable problem is introduced and analyzed, which involves a pair of arbitrarily small slits in a two-dimensional waveguide. The system displays perfect transmission at a frequency corresponding to that of a quasilocalized, cavitylike mode bound to the slits, the frequency of which is below that of the cutoff mode of the continuum. In contrast, and remarkably, the Fabry-Pérot-like resonance with the extended cutoff mode leads to imperfect transmission, comparable to that of an individual, nonresonated slit. An explanation of this single-slit-like behavior is presented, which also applies to the closely related phenomenon of light funneling concerning transmission through subwavelength channels [see F. Pardo et al., Light Funneling Mechanism Explained by Magnetoelectric Interference, Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 093902 (2011), and references therein].

Electromagnetic fields with strong optical chirality can be formed in the near field of chiral plasmonic nanostructures. We calculate and visualize the degree of chirality to identify regions with relatively high values. This analysis leads to design principles for a simple utilization of chiral fields. We investigate planar geometries, which offer a convenient way to access the designated fields, as well as three-dimensional nanostructures, which show a very high local optical chirality.