Route to strong localization of light: The role of disorder

Type
Article
Authors
Molinari, Diego P.
Fratalocchi, Andrea cc
KAUST Department
Applied Mathematics and Computational Science Program
Electrical Engineering Program
Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering (CEMSE) Division
Date
2012

Metadata
Show full item record
Abstract
By employing Random Matrix Theory (RMT) and firstprinciple calculations, we investigated the behavior of Anderson localization in 1D, 2D and 3D systems characterized by a varying disorder. In particular, we considered random binary layer sequences in 1D and structurally disordered photonic crystals in two and three dimensions. We demonstrated the existence of a unique optimal degree of disorder that yields the strongest localization possible. In this regime, localized modes are constituted by defect states, which can show subwavelength confinement properties. These results suggest that disorder offers a new avenue for subwavelength light localization in purely dielectric media. © 2012 Optical Society of America.
Sponsors
For computer time, this research used the resources of the Supercomputing Laboratory at King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST) in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia. Numerical simulations have been performed with our NANOCPP code, which is an homemade, highly scalable 2D/3D FDTD code expressively developed for large scale parallel simulations of disordered materials. D. Molinari acknowledges partial support from PRIN MIUR 2009. The authors thank G. Ruocco and P. de Bernardis for fruitful discussions.
Publisher
The Optical Society
Journal
Optics Express
ISSN
10944087
DOI
10.1364/OE.20.018156
PubMed ID
23038363
Handle URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/562013
Collections
Articles; Applied Mathematics and Computational Science Program; Electrical Engineering Program; Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering (CEMSE) Division