Transformation optics1-5 uses the fact5 that optical media alter the geometry of space and time for light. A
transformation medium performs an active coordinate transformation: electromagnetism in physical space, including
the effect of the medium, is equivalent to electromagnetism in transformed coordinates where space
appears to be empty. Some of the most striking applications of transformation optics include invisibility 1,2,4 or
perfect lensing based on negative refraction.5
Here we discuss an idea for a superantenna based on coordinate transformations. This device is invisible for
most of the rays while it condenses others into a single point. Our device relies on a three-dimensional extension
of optical conformal mapping 2,3 as we describe below.
Black holes are like space-time rivers: their geometry can be viewed as if space were a moving medium rushing towards their singularities. Horizons are formed when the flow speed exceeds the speed of light such that nothing can escape anymore. Realizing this idea with ultrashort pulses in microstructured optical fibers, we performed the first experimental demonstration of an artificial event horizon in optics.
In electrical engineering metamaterials have been developed that offer unprecedented control over electromagnetic fields. Here we show that general relativity lends the theoretical tools for designing devices made of such versatile materials. We consider media that facilitate space-time transformations and include negative refraction. Our theory unifies the concepts operating behind the scenes of perfect invisibility devices, perfect lenses, the optical Aharonov-Bohm effect and electromagnetic analogs of the event horizon, and may lead to further applications.
The physics of slow-light propagation in atomic Lambda systems is described by the theory of integrable systems, which allows the existence of solitons. Slow-light solitons are stable polarization structures that propagate through the atomic medium at a controllable speed. They represent generalizations of the experimentally demonstrated slow-light pulses in atomic media where one light polarization dominates the other, the probe, and controls its group velocity. In the general case, the overall intensity controls the speed of the entire polarization structure. For zero detuning between light and atoms, even more general shape-preserving pulses exist. Quantum fluctuations of slow-light pulses can be stored in atomic media. In the case of solitons, these are fluctuations of the soliton parameters.
We describe an optical detection system for simultaneous time- and frequency-resolved measurements: the Balanced-Homodyne Chronocyclic Spectrometer (chrono equals time; cyclic equals frequency). This system uses balanced, optical homodyne detection, with a wavelength- tunable, pulsed local-oscillator (LO) field to time resolve the spectrum of weak light pulses. The LO field defines the time and frequency window in which the signal field is sampled. The method time resolves the photon statistics as well as the mean intensity. Measurement examples are given for: (1) Temporal oscillations of laser pulses transmitted through a semiconductor quantum well in an optical microcavity and (2) The time-frequency profile of a linearly chirped ultrashort laser pulse.
Conference Committee Involvement (10)
Metamaterials
4 April 2016 | Brussels, Belgium
Metamaterials
14 April 2014 | Brussels, Belgium
Metamaterials: Fundamentals and Applications V
12 August 2012 | San Diego, California, United States
Metamaterials
16 April 2012 | Brussels, Belgium
Metamaterials: Fundamentals and Applications IV
21 August 2011 | San Diego, California, United States
Metamaterials: Fundamentals and Applications III
1 August 2010 | San Diego, California, United States
Metamaterials
12 April 2010 | Brussels, Belgium
Metamaterials: Fundamentals and Applications II
2 August 2009 | San Diego, California, United States
Metamaterials: Fundamentals and Applications
10 August 2008 | San Diego, California, United States
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.