Related papers: The maximum refractive index of an atomic crystal …
It is interesting to observe that all optical materials with a positive refractive index have a value of index that is of order unity. Surprisingly, though, a deep understanding of the mechanisms that lead to this universal behavior seems…
The refractive index of a matter is foundational to quantify the light-matter interaction of the medium. However, the classical description of refractive index is based on macroscopic homogenization and is limited to describing the local…
Increasing the refractive index available for optical and nanophotonic systems opens new vistas for design: for applications ranging from broadband metalenses to ultrathin photovoltaics to high-quality-factor resonators, higher index…
Manipulation of the refractive index has been of growing interest lately. We consider parameters and possibilities of enhancing the absolute-value limit of the linear index in coherent atomic systems. Starting with a review of how two-level…
We demonstrate that an effective near-zero refractive index can emerge from collective light scattering in a discrete atomic lattice, using essentially exact microscopic simulations. In a 25-layer array, cooperative response leads to over a…
Large and abrupt variations in the electromagnetic properties of materials lead to dramatic effects: even a single step-like change in the refractive index induces striking phenomena, such as time-refraction and time-reflection. When the…
We provide a general microscopic theory of the scattering cross-section and of the refractive index for a system of interacting colloidal particles, exact at second order in the molecular polarizabilities. In particular: a) we show that the…
The Raman effect -- inelastic scattering of light by lattice vibrations (phonons) -- produces an optical response closely tied to a material's crystal structure. Here we show that resonant optical excitation of IR and Raman phonons gives…
Light-absorbing materials are widely used, and their optical properties are an important factor. Snell's law does not hold in materials that partially absorb light. Hence, the optical path in refraction is calculated from Maxwell's law. We…
In light refraction between two transparent media, Snell's law describes the relationship between the incident angle and refraction angle. The refractive index is usually determined from Snell's law using the minimum deviation angle through…
We consider the interaction of atoms with the quantized electromagnetic field in the presence of materials with negative index of refraction. Spontaneous emission of an atom embedded in a negative index material is discussed. It is shown…
We consider quantum light-matter interfaces comprised of multiple layers of two-dimensional atomic arrays, whose lattice spacings exceed the wavelength of light. While the coupling of light to a single layer of such a ``superwavelength"…
Quantum optical techniques may yield immersion fluids with high indices of refraction without absorption. We describe one such technique in which a probe field experiences a large index of refraction with amplification rather than…
We investigate hitherto unexplored regimes of probe scattering by atoms trapped in optical lattices: weak scattering by effectively random atomic density distributions and multiple scattering by arbitrary atomic distributions. Both regimes…
Prompted by recent experimental developments, a theory of surface scattering of fast atoms at grazing incidence is developed. The theory gives rise to a quantum mechanical limit for ordered surfaces that describes coherent diffraction peaks…
We characterize the interaction between a single atom or similar microscopic system and a light field via the scattering ratio. For that, we first derive the electrical field in a strongly focused Gaussian light beam, and then consider the…
We propose to go away from the electromagnetic wave description of light and to explain through a purely corpuscular and neutral approach, the phenomenon of the slowing down of light in a transparent medium. The quantum predictions and ours…
Efficient and versatile interfaces for the interaction of light with matter are an essential cornerstone for quantum science. A fundamentally new avenue of controlling light-matter interactions has been recently proposed based on the rich…
The interaction between the electric dipole moments of a quantum emitter and a metal nanoparticle gives rise to unique optical properties, such as interference-induced photon correlations, that could be useful for enhanced intensity-based…
A few years ago, diffraction of atoms by double slits and gratings was achieved for the first time, and standard optical wave-theory provided an excellent description of the experiments. More recently, diffraction of weakly bound molecules…