Dynamically controlling local field enhancement at an epsilon-near-zero/dielectric interface via nonlinearities of an epsilon-near-zero medium
Abstract
For p-polarized light incident on an interface between an ordinary dielectric and an epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) material, an enhancement of the component of the electric field, normal to this interface, has been shown to occur. This local field enhancement holds great promise for amplifying nonlinear optical processes and for other applications requiring ultrastrong local fields in epsilon-near-zero based technologies. However, the loss associated with the imaginary part of the dielectric constant of an epsilon-near-zero material can greatly suppress the field enhancement factor. In this study, we analyze, using density matrix formalism, the field enhancement factor for a saturable two-level system that exhibits second- and third-order nonlinearities. We show that, in such a system, an almost lossless ENZ response can arise as a consequence of saturable nonlinearity and that the local field enhancement factor can be readily controlled dynamically by adjusting the intensity of the incident electromagnetic wave. Our findings provide for the first time a pathway to design a material exhibiting an external field responsive epsilon-near-zero behavior for applications in nonlinear photonics.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Nov 02, 2020
- Source ID
- 10.1515/nanoph-2020-0490
Entities
People
- Alexander Baev
- M. Zahirul Alam
- Paras Nath Prasad
- Robert W. Boyd
Organizations
- Canada Research Chair
- Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
- University at Buffalo
- University of Ottawa
- University of Rochester