Coherent perfect absorption (CPA) is an interferometric effect that guarantees full absorption in a lossy layer independently of its intrinsic losses. To date, it has been observed only at a single wavelength or narrow bandwidths, whereupon wavelength-dependent absorption can be ignored. Here we produce CPA over a bandwidth of ~ 60 nm in a 2-um-thick polymer film with a low-doping concentration of an organic laser dye. A planar cavity is designed with a spectral `dip' to accommodate the dye resonant linewidth, and CPA is thus achieved even at its absorption edges. This approach allows realizing strong absorption in laser dyes - and resonant materials in general - independently of the intrinsic absorption levels, with a at spectral profile and without suffering absorption quenching due to high doping levels.
Absorption of light by a nanoparticle in the presence of resonant atom and fluorescence of the latter are theoretically investigated. It is shown, that absorption of light by a nanoparticle can be increased by several orders because of presence of atom. It is established, that optical bistability in such system is possible.
The first continuous-wave two-photon absorption laser-induced stimulated emission (CTALISE) is demonstrated. The 7^1S-6^1P transition in mercury at 1014nm wavelength is used and selective lasing of different isotopes is observed.
The capability of optical resonators to extend the effective radiation-matter interaction length originates from a multipass effect, hence is intrinsically limited by the resonator quality factor. Here, we show that this constraint can be overcome by combining the concepts of resonant interaction and coherent perfect absorption. We demonstrate and investigate super-resonant coherent absorption in a coupled Fabry-Perot-ring cavity structure. At the FP resonant wavelengths, the described phenomenon gives rise to split modes with a nearly-transparent peak and a peak whose transmission is exceptio…
We identify a family of unusual slow-light modes occurring in lossy multi-mode grating waveguides, for which either the forward or backward mode components, or both, become degenerate. In the fully-degenerate case, by varying the wave amplitudes in a uniform input waveguide, one can modulate between coherent perfect absorption (zero reflection) and perfect reflection. The perfectly-absorbed wave has anomalously short absorption length, scaling as the inverse 1/3 power of the absorptivity.
We experimentally demonstrate a prototype of a cylindrical enlarging lens capable of enhancing and restoring evanescent fields. The enabling phenomenon is the resonant excitation of coupled surface modes in a system of two cylindrical arrays of small resonant particles. As was shown in [J. Appl. Phys. 96, 1293 (2004)], this phenomenon in planar arrays can be used in electromagnetic near-field imaging. Here, we use a similar structure in a cylindrically symmetric configuration, which gives us a possibility to obtain an enlarged near-field image.
We experimentally demonstrate single beam directional perfect absorption (to within experimental accuracy) of p-polarized light in the near-infrared using unpatterned, deep subwavelength films of indium tin oxide (ITO) on Ag. The experimental perfect absorption occurs slightly above the epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) frequency of ITO where the permittivity is less than one. Remarkably, we obtain perfect absorption for films whose thickness is as low as ~1/50th of the operating free-space wavelength and whose single pass attenuation is only ~ 5%. We further derive simple analytical conditions for perf…
There is a study of coherent perfect absorption (CPA) in composite medium (CM) which is made of metal-dielectric composition. The CM, an orthorhombic shaped slab, is illuminated by two identical Gaussian beams (GB) incident at equal angle of incidence and focused on the two interfaces between wall of slab and air from opposite side. It has determine the necessary conditions required for CPA and shows that perfect CPA is possible with GBs. Author also shows broader beams exhibit more absorption than comparatively tightly focused beams.
It is shown that perfect absorption and giant amplification can be realized when a wave impinges on a special metamaterial layer with zero real parts of the permittivity and permeability. The imaginary parts of the permittivity and permeability remain nonzero, corresponding to finite loss or gain. Perfect absorption and giant magnification can still be achieved even if the thickness of the metamaterial layer is arbitrarily thin and the absolute imaginary parts of the permittivity and permeability are very small. The metamaterial layer needs a total-reflection substrate for perfect absorption, …
We present a theoretical analysis of the effects of short range surface plasmon polariton excitation on sub-wavelength bridges in metal gratings. We show that localized resonances in thin metal bridges placed within the slit of a free-standing silver grating dramatically modify transmission spectra and boost absorption regardless of the periodicity of the grating. Additionally, the interference of multiple localized resonances makes it possible to tailor the absorption properties of ultrathin gratings, regardless of the apertures' geometrical size. This tunable, narrow-band, enhanced-absorptio…
Coherent perfect absorption (CPA) refers to interferometrically induced complete absorption of incident light by a partial absorber independently of its intrinsic absorption (which may be vanishingly small) or its thickness. CPA is typically realized in a resonant device, and thus cannot be achieved over a broad continuous spectrum, which thwarts its applicability to photodetectors and solar cells, for example. Here, we demonstrate broadband omni-resonant CPA by placing a thin weak absorber in a planar cavity and pre-conditioning the incident optical field by introducing judicious angular disp…
We study phase conjugation in a nonlinear composite slab when the counter propagating pump waves are completely absorbed by means of coherent perfect absorption. Under the undepleted pump approximation the coupling constant and the phase conjugated reflectivity are shown to undergo a substantial increase and multivalued response. The effect can be used for efficient switching of the phase conjugated reflectivity in photonic circuits.
Metallic rugate structures are theoretically investigated for achieving perfect absorption in the visible and near-infrared regions. Our model builds on nanoporous metal films whose porosity (volume fraction of voids) follows a sine-wave along the film thickness. By setting the initial phase of porosity at the top surface as 0, perfect absorption is obtained. The impacts of various structural parameters on the characteristic absorption behaviors are studied. Furthermore, multiple peaks or bands with high-absorption can be achieved by integrating several periodicities in one structure. The ruga…
The optical absorption of nanoscale thickness semiconductor films on top of light-trapping structures based on optical interference effects combined with spectrum-splitting structures is theoretically investigated. Nearly perfect absorption over a broad spectrum range can be achieved in $<100$ nm thick films on top of one-dimensional photonic crystal or metal films. This phenomenon can be attributed to interference induced photonic localization, which enhances the absorption and reduces the reflection of the films. Perfect solar absorption and low carrier thermalization loss can be achieved wh…
A non-destructive method for measuring the resonant absorption coefficient of rare-earth-doped optical fibers is introduced. It can be applied to a broad range of fiber designs and host materials. The method compares the side-collected spontaneous emission at two arbitrary locations along the fiber as a function of the pump wavelength to extract the absorption coefficient. It provides an attractive and accurate alternative to other available techniques. In particular, the proposed method is superior to the cut-back method, which destroys the sample and is prone to inaccuracies due to the cladd…
We exploit the versatility provided by metal--dielectric composites to demonstrate controllable coherent perfect absorption (CPA) in a slab of heterogeneous medium. The slab is illuminated by coherent light from both sides, at the same angle of incidence and the conditions required for CPA are investigated as a function of the different geometrical parameters. The simultaneous realization of CPA at two distinct frequencies is also shown. Finally, our calculations clearly elucidate the role of absorption as a necessary prerequisite for CPA.
Resonant periodic nanostructures provide perfect reflection across small or large spectral bandwidths depending on the choice of materials and design parameters. This effect has been known for decades, observed theoretically and experimentally via one-dimensional and two-dimensional structures commonly known as resonant gratings, metamaterials, and metasurfaces. The physical cause of this extraordinary phenomenon is guided-mode resonance mediated by lateral Bloch modes excited by evanescent diffraction orders in the subwavelength regime. In recent years, hundreds of papers have declared Fabry-…
The maximal absorption rate of ultra-thin films is 50% under the condition that the tangential electric (or magnetic) field is almost constant across the film in symmetrical environment. However, with certain reflectors, the absorption rate can be greatly increased, to even perfect absorption (100%). In this work, we explicitly derive the general conditions of the ultra-thin absorptive film parameters to achieve perfect absorption with general types of reflectors under the condition that the tangential electric (or magnetic) field is almost constant across the film. We find that the parameters…
Here we propose a route to the high-Q perfect absorption of light by introducing the concept of a Fano anti-laser. Based on the drastic spectral variation of the optical phase in a Fano-resonant system, a spectral singularity for scatter-free perfect absorption can be achieved with an order of magnitude smaller material loss. By applying temporal coupled mode theory to a Fano-resonant waveguide platform, we reveal that the required material loss and following absorption Q-factor are ultimately determined by the degree of Fano spectral asymmetry. The feasibility of the Fano anti-laser is confir…
It has been shown that perfect photon absorption can occur in the linear excitation regime of cavity quantum electrodynamics (CQED), in which photons from two identical light fields coupled into two ends of the cavity are completely absorbed and result in excitation of the polariton state of the CQED system. The output light from the cavity is totally suppressed by the destructive interference and the polariton state can only decay incoherently back to the ground state. Here we analyze the perfect photon absorption and onset of optical bistability in the nonlinear regime of the CQED and show t…
We demonstrate bending of light on the same side of the normal in a free standing corrugated metal film under bi-directional illumination. Coherent perfect absorption (CPA) is exploited to suppress the specular zeroth order leading to effective back-bending of light into the `-1' order, while the `+1' order is resonant with the surface mode. The effect is shown to be phase sensitive yielding CPA and superscattering in the same geometry.
Short-length fiber lasers are key elements for device integration in fiber systems. However, efficiently absorbing a pump beam in a short ion-doped fiber remains a challenge. We present an approach that renders a weakly absorbing short-length Er-doped fiber completely absorbing. We exploit the concept of coherent perfect absorption, whereby two appropriately designed fiber Bragg gratings define a short-length cavity that enforces complete absorption of an incident wave on resonance independently of the fiber intrinsic absorption. This approach applies to any spectral window and may lead to eff…
Integrating an absorbing thin film into a resonant cavity is the most practical way to achieve perfect absorption of light at a selected wavelength in the mid-to-far infrared, as required to target blackbody radiation or molecular fingerprints. The cavity is designed to resonate and enable perfect absorption in the film at the chosen wavelength λ. However, in current state-of-the-art designs, a still large absorbing film thickness (λ/50) is needed and tuning the perfect absorption wavelength over a broad range requires changing the cavity materials. Here, we introduce a new resonant cavity con…
Graphene nanostructures that support surface plasmons have been utilized to create a variety of dynamically tunable light modulators, motivated by theoretical predictions of the potential for unity absorption in resonantly-excited monolayer graphene sheets. Until now, the generally low efficiencies of tunable resonant graphene absorbers have been limited by the mismatch between free-space photons and graphene plasmons. Here, we develop nanophotonic structures that overcome this mismatch and demonstrate electronically tunable perfect absorption achieved with patterned graphenes covering less th…
We review some of the recent concepts and their realization exploiting the perfect destructive interference of light in micro and nano structures. One refers to optical structures where the effective absorption can be controlled and maximized to perfect absorption. The reported effects depend crucially on the coherent nature of the exciting radiation. Achieved with a single (two or more) incident plane wave (waves) the effect carries the name of critical coupling (coherent perfect absorption). Thus in a system supporting critical coupling (CC) or coherent perfect absorption (CPA) all the incid…
We reveal previously unnoticed Type II perfect absorption and amplification modes of optical scattering system. These modes, in contrast to the counterparts in recent works [Phys. Rev. A 82, 031801 (2010); Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 093902 (2011).] which could be referred as Type I modes, appear at a continuous region along the real frequency axis with any frequency. The Type II modes can be demonstrated in the PT-symmetric/traditional Bragg grating combined structures. A series of exotic nonreciprocal absorption and amplification behaviours are observed in the combined structures, making them have…
We propose to use an optical cavity to enhance the sensitivity of magnetometers relying on the detection of the spin state of high-density nitrogen-vacancy ensembles in diamond using infrared optical absorption. The role of the cavity is to obtain a contrast in the absorption-detected magnetic resonance approaching unity at room temperature. We project an increase in the photon shot-noise limited sensitivity of two orders of magnitude in comparison with a single-pass approach. Optical losses can limit the enhancement to one order of magnitude which could still enable room temperature operation…
We study the mode conversion and resonant absorption phenomena occurring in a slab of a stratified anisotropic medium, optical axes of which are tilted with respect to the direction of inhomogeneity, using the invariant imbedding theory of wave propagation. When the tilt angle is zero, mode conversion occurs if the longitudinal component of the permittivity tensor, which is the one in the direction of inhomogeneity in the non-tilted case, varies from positive to negative values within the medium, while the transverse component plays no role. When the tilt angle is nonzero, the wave transmissio…
Enhancing absorption in optically thin semiconductors is the key in the development of high-performance optical and optoelectronic devices. In this paper, we resort to the concept of degenerate critical coupling and design an ultra-thin semiconductor absorber composed of free-standing GaAs nanocylinder metasurfaces in the near infrared. The numerical results show that perfect absorption can be achieved through overlapping two Mie modes with opposite symmetry, with each mode contributing a theoretical maximum of 50% in their respective critical coupling state. The absorption also shows the pola…
Near perfect infrared light absorption at multi-spectral wavelengths has been experimentally demonstrated by using multiplexed metal square plasmon resonance structures. Optical power absorption over 95% has been observed in dual-band metamaterial absorbers at two separate wavelengths and optical power absorption over 92.5% has been observed in triple-band metamaterial absorbers at three separate wavelengths. The peak absorption wavelengths are primarily determined by the sizes of the metal squares in the multiplexed structures. Electrical field distributions in the middle of the dielectric sp…
Plasmonics offer an exciting way to mediate the interaction between light and matter, allowing strong field enhancement and confinement, large absorption and scattering at resonance. However, simultaneous realization of ultra-narrow band perfect absorption and electromagnetic field enhancement is challenging due to the intrinsic high optical losses and radiative damping in metals. Here, we propose an all-metal plasmonic absorber with an absorption bandwidth less than 8nm and polarization insensitive absorptivity exceeding 99%. Unlike traditional Metal-Dielectric-Metal configurations, we demons…
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 sensor…
We experimentally demonstrate that the addition of partial lattice disorder to a thin-film micro-crystalline silicon photonic crystal results in the controlled spectral broadening of its absorption peaks to form quasi resonances; increasing light trapping over a wide bandwidth while also reducing sensitivity to the angle of incident radiation. Accurate computational simulations are used to design the active-layer photonic crystal so as to maximize the number of its absorption resonances over the broadband interval where micro-crystalline silicon is weakly absorbing before lattice disorder augm…
We study coherent perfect absorption (CPA) of light in a Kerr nonlinear metal-dielectric composite medium, illuminated from the opposite ends. Elementary symmetry considerations reveal that equality of the incident light intensities is a prerequisite to ensure CPA in both linear and nonlinear systems for specific system parameters. We also derive the sufficient conditions for having CPA. We further show that while CPA in a linear system is insensitive to the incident power level, that in a nonlinear system can be achieved only for discrete intensities with interesting hysteretic response. Our …
A simple perfect absorption structure is proposed to achieve the high efficiency light absorption of monolayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) by the critical coupling mechanism of guided resonances. The results of numerical simulation and theoretical analysis show that the light absorption in this atomically thin layer can be as high as 98 . 3% at the visible wavelengths, which is over 12 times more than that of a bare monolayer MoS 2 . In addition, the operating wavelength can be tuned flexibly by adjusting the radius of the air hole and the thickness of the dielectric layers, which is of grea…
A metamaterial perfect absorber consisting of a tri-layer (Al/ZnS/Al) metal-dielectric-metal system with top aluminium nano-disks is fabricated by laser-interference lithography and lift-off processing. The metamaterial absorber had peak resonant absorbance at 1090 nm and showed nonlinear absorption for 600ps laser pulses at 1064 nm wavelength. A nonlinear saturation of reflectance was measured to be dependent on the average laser power incident and not the peak laser intensity. The nonlinear behaviour is shown to arise from the heating due to the absorbed radiation and photo-thermal changes i…
This study investigated spectral changes in the absorption cross-sections of single strong coupling systems composed of single silver nanoparticle dimers and a few dye molecules during the quenching of surface-enhanced resonant Raman scattering (SERRS). The absorption cross-section was obtained by subtracting the scattering cross-section from an extinction cross-section. The spectral changes in these cross-sections were evaluated using a classical hybridization model composed of a plasmon and a molecular exciton including a molecular multi-level property. The changes in the scattering and exti…
We propose and analyze a scheme for controlling coherent photon transmission and reflection in a cavity-quantum-electrodynamics (CQED) system consisting of an optical resonator coupled with three-level atoms coherently prepared by a control laser from free space. When the control laser is off and the cavity is excited by two identical light fields from two ends of the cavity, the two input light fields can be completely absorbed by the CQED system and the light energy is converted into the excitation of the polariton states, but no light can escape from the cavity. Two distinct cases of contro…
We consider a symmetric gap plasmon guide (a folded Kretschmann configuration) supporting both symmeric and antisymmetric coupled surface plasmons. We calculate the transverse spin under illumination from both the sides like in coherent perfect absorption (CPA), whereby all the incident light can be absorbed to excite one of the modes of the structure. Significant enhancement in the transverse spin is shown to be possible when the CPA dip and the mode excitation are at the same frequency. The enhancement results from CPA-mediated total transfer of the incident light to either of the coupled mo…
Absorption of terahertz waves by a metasurface comprising a biperiodic array of pixellated meta-atoms on top of a dielectric substrate backed by a perfect electric conductor was simulated using a commercial software, with either all or a few of the pixels in every meta-atom patched with graphene. Absorptances as high as 0.99 over a 1.16-THz-wide spectral regime for normal incidence were found for a metasurface comprising meta-atoms with only a few pixels patched with graphene, regardless of the polarization state. In comparison to metasurface absorbers comprising two graphene layers separated …
Absorption of electromagnetic energy by a material is a phenomenon that underlies many applied problems, including molecular sensing, photocurrent generation and photodetection. Commonly, the incident energy is delivered to the system through a single channel, for example by a plane wave incident on one side of an absorber. However, absorption can be made much more efficient by exploiting wave interference. A coherent perfect absorber is a system in which complete absorption of electromagnetic radiation is achieved by controlling the interference of multiple incident waves. Here, we review rec…
By extracting the permittivity of monolayer MoS2 from experiments, the optical absorption of monolayer MoS2 prepared on top of one-dimensional photonic crystal (1DPC) or metal films is investigated theoretically. The 1DPC and metal films act as resonant back reflectors that can enhance absorption of monolayer MoS2 substantially over a broad spectral range due to the Fabry-Perot cavity effect. The absorption of monolayer MoS2 can also be tuned by varying either the distance between the monolayer MoS2 and the back reflector or the thickness of the cover layers.
The technologies of heating, photovoltaics, water photocatalysis and artificial photosynthesis depend on the absorption of light and novel approaches such as coherent absorption from a standing wave promise total dissipation of energy. Extending the control of absorption down to very low light levels and eventually to the single photon regime is of great interest yet remains largely unexplored. Here we demonstrate the coherent absorption of single photons in a deeply sub-wavelength 50% absorber. We show that while absorption of photons from a travelling wave is probabilistic, standing wave abs…
Black phosphorus (BP) as a promising two-dimensional material with extraordinary optical properties constitutes an excellent building block in multilayer hyperbolic metamaterials. In this work, we design a multilayer structure composed of BP/dielectric layer stacking unit cells patterned on a gold mirror and theoretically demonstrate the tunable anisotropic absorption in the infrared regime. The electric dipole resonance between the adjacent unit cells drives the structure in the critical coupling state, and impedance of the structure matches to that of free space, showing the perfect absorpti…
We present a model study to estimate the sensitivity of the optical absorption of multilayered graphene structure to the subnanometer interlayer separation. Starting from a transfer-matrix formalism we derive semi-analytical expressions for the far-field observables. Neglecting the interlayer separation, results in upper bounds to the absorption of 50% for real-valued sheet conductivities, exactly the value needed for coherent perfect absorption (CPA), while for complex-valued conductivities we identify upper bounds that are always lower. For pristine graphene the number of layers required to …
Metasurfaces in metal/insulator/metal configuration have recently been widely used in photonics research, with applications ranging from perfect absorption to phase modulation, but why and when such structures can realize what kind of functionalities are not yet fully understood. Here, based on a coupled-mode theory analysis, we establish a complete phase diagram in which the optical properties of such systems are fully controlled by two simple parameters (i.e., the intrinsic and radiation losses), which are in turn dictated by the geometrical/material parameters of the underlying structures. …
Intensity-dependent enhancement of saturable absorption in a film of PbS-Au4 nanohybrid composites has been observed by femtosecond time-resolved transient absorption measurement at 780 nm. The nonlinear absorption coefficient of saturable absorption in PbS-Au4 nanohybrid composites is found to be dependent on excitation irradiance and it is determined to be -2.9 cm/GW at 78 GW/cm2, an enhancement of nearly fourfold in comparison with that of pure PbS quantum dots (QDs). The enhancement is attributed to excitation of surface plasmon by resonant energy transfer between PbS QDs and Au nanopartic…
Perfect absorption of radiation in a graphene sheet may play a pivotal role in the realization of technologically relevant optoelectronic devices. In particular, perfect absorption of radiation in the terahertz (THz) spectral range would tremendously boost the utility of graphene in this difficult range of photon energies, which still lacks cheap and robust devices operating at room temperature. In this work we show that unpatterned graphene flakes deposited on appropriate substrates can display gate-tunable coherent perfect absorption (CPA) in the THz spectral range. We present theoretical es…
We present a simple closed expression for determining the condition for Coherent Perfect Absorption derived through electromagnetic wave treatment and interface boundary conditions. Apart from providing physical insight this expression can be used to estimate the values of various parameters required for observation of coherent perfect absorption in a given medium characterized by a complex dielectric constant. The results of the theoretical expression are found to be in good agreement with those obtained through numerical simulations.
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…
English translation of the paper "Electromagnetic field inside a plane-parallel layer in the resonant absorption regime" (1962) by A. P. Khapalyuk: Pioneering study on coherent perfect absorption
