Related papers: Quantum optical effective-medium theory for loss-c…
The quantum optics of metamaterials starts with the question whether the same effective-medium theories apply as in classical optics. In general the answer is negative. For active plasmonics but also for some passive metamaterials, we show…
Quantum metamaterials generalize the concept of metamaterials (artificial optical media) to the case when their optical properties are determined by the interplay of quantum effects in the constituent 'artificial atoms' with the…
The original concept of left-handed material has inspired the possibility of optical antimatter, where the effect of light propagation through a medium can be completely cancelled by its complementary medium. Despite recent progress in the…
Optical metamaterials have the potential to control the flow of light at will which may lead to spectacular applications as the perfect lens or the cloaking device. Both of these optical elements require invariant effective material…
By coupling controllable quantum systems into larger structures we introduce the concept of a quantum metamaterial. Conventional meta-materials represent one of the most important frontiers in optical design, with applications in diverse…
Metasurfaces have been proposed as a new paradigm to manipulate light and improve light-matter interactions. Conventional metasurfaces are restricted to the loss of materials, limiting their performance ceiling. Here, the loss of metallic…
Photonic metamaterials allow for a range of exciting applications unattainable with ordinary dielectrics. However, the metallic nature of their meta-atoms may result in increased optical losses. Gain-enhanced metamaterials are a potential…
Metasurfaces mold the flow of classical light waves by engineering sub-wavelength patterns from dielectric or metallic thin films. We describe and analyze a method in which quantum operator-valued reflectivity can be used to control both…
We introduce a class of metamaterials with uniformly balanced gain and loss associated with complex permittivity and permeability constants. The refractive index of such a balanced pseudo-passive metamaterial is real. An unbounded uniform…
Metamaterials are artificially engineered periodic structures with exceptional optical properties that are not found in conventional materials. However, this definition of metamaterials can be extended if we introduce a quantum degree of…
Here, we present an overview of recent developments in the characterization of electromagnetic and quantum metamaterials using effective medium methods. It is highlighted that both electromagnetic and electronic systems can be homogenized…
We propose novel quantum antennas and metamaterials with strong magnetic response at optical frequencies. Our design is based on the arrangement of natural atoms with only electric dipole transition moments at distances smaller than a…
Recent experiments have revealed ultrastrong coupling between light and matter as a promising avenue for modifying material properties, such as electrical transport, chemical reaction rates, and even superconductivity. Here, we explore…
Unique and highly tunable optical properties of PT-symmetric systems and metamaterials enable a plenty of entirely new linear and nonlinear optical phenomena with numerous applications, e.g., for designing subdiffraction lenses,…
Engineering the optical properties using artificial nanostructured media known as metamaterials has led to breakthrough devices with capabilities from super-resolution imaging to invisibility. In this article, we review metamaterials for…
Modern optical systems are subject to very restrictive performance, size and cost requirements. Especially in portable systems size often is the most important factor, which necessitates elaborate designs to achieve the desired…
Metamaterials have introduced a whole new world of unusual materials with functionalities that cannot be attained in naturally occurring material systems by mimicking and controlling the natural phenomena at subwavelength scales. However,…
Since the turn of the century, metamaterials have gained a large amount of attention due to their potential for possessing highly nontrivial and exotic properties such as cloaking or perfect lensing. There has been a great push to create…
A well-known principle in optical physics states that power can never be exchanged between two light waves propagating inside a homogeneous medium when the medium response is strictly linear. Power exchange between light waves usually…
Unitary transformations are routinely modeled and implemented in the field of quantum optics. In contrast, nonunitary transformations that can involve loss and gain require a different approach. In this theory work, we present a universal…