Time-Varying Metasurfaces and Lorentz Non-Reciprocity

By Amr M. Shaltout, Alexander Kildishev, Vladimir M. Shalaev. 2015

298 citations recorded by the source corpus.

A cornerstone equation of optics, Snell's law, relates the angles of incidence and refraction for light passing through an interface between two media. It is built on two fundamental constrains: the conservation of tangential momentum and the conservation of energy. By relaxing the classical Snell law photon momentum conservation constrain when using space-gradient phase discontinuity, optical metasurfaces enabled an entirely new class of ultrathin optical devices. Here, we show that by eradicating the photon energy conservation constrain when introducing time-gradient phase discontinuity, we can further empower the area of flat photonics and obtain a new genus of optical devices. With this approach, classical Snell relations are developed into a more universal form not limited by Lorentz reciprocity, hence, meeting all the requirements for building magnetic-free optical isolators. Furthermore, photons experience inelastic interaction with time-gradient metasurfaces, which modifies photonic energy eigenstates and results in a Doppler-like wavelength shift. Consequently, metasurfaces with both space- and time-gradients can have a strong impact on a plethora of photonic applications and provide versatile control over the physical properties of light.

Subfields: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/c07aa4b3ca21e32cd391976f2122c1dca2a65efe

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In Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

In Electrical and Electronic Engineering

In Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials

Citations in the corpus

Serrodyne Frequency Translation Using Time-Modulated Metasurfaces (2019, background): “The proposed metasurfacebased frequency translator may find a range of applications including frequency comb generation [16], [17], arbitrary waveform generation [18], Doppler cloaks [19], modulated antennas [20]–[23], radar pulse shaping [24], [25], and magnetless nonreciprocal devices [26]–[33].”
Spacetime Metamaterials—Part II: Theory and Applications (2020, background): “nonreciprocal specular reflection or/and transmission [70], [71] and spatial nonreciprocal circulation [72].”
Phase-Induced Frequency Conversion and Doppler Effect With Time-Modulated Metasurfaces (2020, unknown): “time-modulated metasurface ([24], [25], [54]–[56] and references within).”
Programmable time-domain digital-coding metasurface for non-linear harmonic manipulation and new wireless communication systems (2018, background): “As an alternative approach, time-varying meta-surfaces have been shown to support parametric phenomena [32–34], enabling new ways to manipulate the impinging waves in a non-linear and non-reciprocal fashion over a compact and efficient platform.”