Open AccessSoft surfaces and enhanced nonlinearity enabled via epsilon-near-zero media doped with zero-area perfect electric conductor inclusions
Author(s) -
Ehsan Nahvi,
Iñigo Liberal,
Nader Engheta
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
optics letters/optics index
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.524
H-Index - 272
eISSN - 1071-2763
pISSN - 0146-9592
DOI - 10.1364/ol.400438
Subject(s) - dopant , dielectric , electric field , conductor , doping , materials science , condensed matter physics , perfect conductor , optics , photonics , nonlinear system , physics , optoelectronics , quantum mechanics , composite material , scattering
Introducing a dielectric inclusion inside an epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) host has been shown to dramatically affect the effective permeability of the host for a TM-polarized incident wave, a concept coined as photonic doping [Science355, 1058 (2017)SCIEAS0036-807510.1126/science.aal2672]. Here, we theoretically study the prospect of doping the ENZ host with infinitesimally thin perfect electric conductor (PEC) inclusions, which we call "zero-area" PEC dopants. First, we theoretically demonstrate that zero-area PEC dopants enable the design of soft surfaces with an arbitrary cross-sectional geometry. Second, we illustrate the possibility of engineering the PEC dopants with the goal of transforming the electric field distribution inside the ENZ while maintaining a spatially invariant magnetic field. We exploit this property to enhance the effective nonlinearity of the ENZ host.