Related papers: Physical limits on electromagnetic response
At visible and infrared frequencies, metals show tantalizing promise for strong subwavelength resonances, but material loss typically dampens the response. We derive fundamental limits to the optical response of absorptive systems, bounding…
We develop an analytical framework to derive upper bounds to light--matter interactions in the optical near field, where applications ranging from spontaneous-emission amplification to greater-than-blackbody heat transfer show…
We derive and discuss general physical bounds on the electromagnetic scattering and absorption of passive structures. Our theory, based on passivity and power conservation, quantifies the minimum and maximum allowed scattering for an object…
Metamaterials are beginning to transform optics and microwave technology thanks to their versatile properties that, in many cases, can be tailored according to practical needs and desires. Although metamaterials are surely not the answer to…
Energy-dependent speeds of light have been considered an observable signature of quantum gravity effects. The two simplest dispersion relationships produce either linear or quadratic corrections, in particle energy, to the photon speed. The…
Recent progress in nanofabrication has led to tremendous technological developments in nanophotonics, which rely on the interaction of light with nanostructured matter. Nanophotonics has experienced a large surge of interest in recent…
Light scattering is one of the most established wave phenomena in optics, lying at the heart of light-matter interactions and of crucial importance for nanophotonic applications. Passivity, causality and energy conservation imply strict…
Our visual perception of our surroundings is ultimately limited by the diffraction limit, which stipulates that optical information smaller than roughly half the illumination wavelength is not retrievable. Over the past decades, many…
We provide a theoretical framework to describe the dynamics of a free-electron beam interacting with quantized bound systems in arbitrary electromagnetic environments. This expands the quantum optics toolbox to incorporate free-electron…
Exotic forms of wave control have been emerging by engineering matter in space and time. In this framework, temporal photonic interfaces, i.e., abrupt changes in the electromagnetic properties of a material, have been shown to induce…
Photonic innovation is becoming ever more important in the modern world. Optical systems are dominating shorter and shorter communications distances, LED's are rapidly emerging for a variety of applications, and solar cells show potential…
Electromagnetic reactions on light nuclei are fundamental to advance our understanding of nuclear structure and dynamics. The perturbative nature of the electromagnetic probes allows to clearly connect measured cross sections with the…
Temporally modulated optical media are important in both abstract and applied applications, such as spacetime transformation optics, relativistic laser-plasma interactions, and dynamic metamaterials. Here we investigate the behaviour of…
The limits of linear electrodynamics are reviewed, and possible directions of nonlinear extension are explored. The central theme is that the qualitative character of the empirical successes of quantum electrodynamics must be used as a…
We derive upper bounds to free-space concentration of electromagnetic waves, mapping out the limits to maximum intensity for any spot size and optical beam-shaping device. For sub-diffraction-limited optical beams, our bounds suggest the…
The ability to control electromagnetic fields on the subwavelength scale could open exciting new venues in many fields of science. Transformation optics provides one way to attain such control through the local variation of the permittivity…
Nanoscale quantum optics explores quantum phenomena in nanophotonics systems for advancing fundamental knowledge in nano and quantum optics and for harnessing the laws of quantum physics in the development of new photonics-based…
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…
Strong light-matter interactions enabled by surface plasmons have given rise to a wide range of photonic, optoelectronic and chemical functionalities. In recent years, the interest in this research area has focused on the quantum regime,…
Time-varying systems open intriguing opportunities to explore novel approaches in the design of efficient electromagnetic devices. While such explorations date back to more than half a century ago, recent years have experienced a renewed…