Non-Hermitian Interactions in Photonics
Abstract
The objective of this project is to investigate new types of optical interactions and couplings based on the synergy of two emerging fields of non-Hermitian photonics and topological physics. Photonics, for its flexibility to create and superpose non-Hermitian eigenstates with ease using optical gain and loss, has become an ideal platform to explore various non-Hermitian quantum symmetry paradigms for novel device functionalities, leading to an emerging field, namely, non-Hermitian photonics. In the realm of photonics, beyond the real-valued permittivity-permeability plane set by metamaterials, non-Hermiticity can further extend photonics design and engineering to the entire complex dielectric permittivity space. Therefore, non-Hermitian Hamiltonians are in principle very general and their resulting interactions can be judiciously designed extremely versatile, shaping the symmetry and topology of exotic light states in photonic systems. To further promote the scope of non-Hermitian photonics, we aim here to develop a general fundamental framework for exploring and discovering different types of non-Hermiticity mediated novel interactions beyond recently studied parity-time symmetry, enabling new paradigms for dynamic control of light-matter interacts at the micro- and nanoscale for innovative photonics symmetry and topology. The intellectual merit of this proposed activity is based upon very recent developments of non-Hermitian and topological photonics that make use of powerful concepts of symmetry and topology Ñ the two-guiding principles for understanding and synthesizing new phases of light in artificial materials, not available in nature. Although the connections between non-Hermitian and topological photonics are rather vague since they are emerging from different aspects in quantum physics, we propose to develop a fundamental framework to initiate the effective coupling of these two important yet different areas through different types of non-Hermitian interactions, including active controllable topological interaction, imaginary gauge field and its resulting unidirectional coupling, as well as arbitrary complex-valued photonic couplings. These new types of non-Hermitian interactions will deliver novel active and reconfigurable photonics functionality ranging from topological insulating phases, chiral resonances, to dynamical stability of lasers. In the proposed project, we will conduct basic theoretical studies, extensive numerical modeling and design, state-of-the-art fabrication, and characterization of the non-Hermitian photonic structures, facilitating efficient strategies to manipulate optical modes and enhance the robustness of light transport and cavity resonance using non-Hermitian interactions. The proposed studies will be based on our recent theoretical and experimental studies of parity-time symmetric photonics, topological photonics, integrated photonics, and semiconductor optoelectronics.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Apr 29, 2019
- Source ID
- W911NF1910249
Entities
People
- Liang Feng
Organizations
- Army Contracting Command
- United States Army
- University of Pennsylvania