Localized thermal emission from topological interfaces.

The control of thermal radiation by shaping its spatial and spectral emission characteristics plays a key role in many areas of science and engineering. Conventional approaches to tailoring thermal emission using metamaterials are hampered both by the limited spatial resolution of the required subwavelength material structures and by the materials' strong absorption in the infrared. In this work, we demonstrate an approach based on the concept of topology. By changing a single parameter of a multilayer coating, we were able to control the reflection topology of a surface, with the critical point of zero reflection being topologically protected. The boundaries between subcritical and supercritical spatial domains host topological interface states with near-unity thermal emissivity. These topological concepts enable unconventional manipulation of thermal light for applications in thermal management and thermal camouflage.

Dynamically crossing diabolic points while encircling exceptional curves: A programmable symmetric-asymmetric multimode switch.

Nontrivial spectral properties of non-Hermitian systems can lead to intriguing effects with no counterparts in Hermitian systems. For instance, in a two-mode photonic system, by dynamically winding around an exceptional point (EP) a controlled asymmetric-symmetric mode switching can be realized. That is, the system can either end up in one of its eigenstates, regardless of the initial eigenmode, or it can switch between the two states on demand, by simply controlling the winding direction. However, for multimode systems with higher-order EPs or multiple low-order EPs, the situation can be more involved, and the ability to control asymmetric-symmetric mode switching can be impeded, due to the breakdown of adiabaticity. Here we demonstrate that this difficulty can be overcome by winding around exceptional curves by additionally crossing diabolic points. We consider a four-mode [Formula: see text]-symmetric bosonic system as a platform for experimental realization of such a multimode switch. Our work provides alternative routes for light manipulations in non-Hermitian photonic setups.

Acousto-holographic reconstruction of whole-cell stiffness maps.

Accurate assessment of cell stiffness distribution is essential due to the critical role of cell mechanobiology in regulation of vital cellular processes like proliferation, adhesion, migration, and motility. Stiffness provides critical information in understanding onset and progress of various diseases, including metastasis and differentiation of cancer. Atomic force microscopy and optical trapping set the gold standard in stiffness measurements. However, their widespread use has been hampered with long processing times, unreliable contact point determination, physical damage to cells, and unsuitability for multiple cell analysis. Here, we demonstrate a simple, fast, label-free, and high-resolution technique using acoustic stimulation and holographic imaging to reconstruct stiffness maps of single cells. We used this acousto-holographic method to determine stiffness maps of HCT116 and CTC-mimicking HCT116 cells and differentiate between them. Our system would enable widespread use of whole-cell stiffness measurements in clinical and research settings for cancer studies, disease modeling, drug testing, and diagnostics.

Topological engineering of terahertz light using electrically tunable exceptional point singularities.

The topological structure associated with the branch point singularity around an exceptional point (EP) can provide tools for controlling the propagation of light. Through use of graphene-based devices, we demonstrate the emergence of EPs in an electrically controlled interaction between light and a collection of organic molecules in the terahertz regime at room temperature. We show that the intensity and phase of terahertz pulses can be controlled by a gate voltage, which drives the device across the EP. Our electrically tunable system allows reconstruction of the Riemann surface associated with the complex energy landscape and provides topological control of light by tuning the loss imbalance and frequency detuning of interacting modes. Our approach provides a platform for developing topological optoelectronics and studying the manifestations of EP physics in light-matter interactions.

Experimental characterization of a non-local convertor for quantum photonic networks.

We experimentally characterize a quantum photonic gate that is capable of converting multiqubit entangled states while acting only on two qubits. It is an important tool in large quantum networks, where it can be used for re-wiring of multipartite entangled states or for generating various entangled states required for specific tasks. The gate can be also used to generate quantum information processing resources, such as entanglement and discord. In our experimental demonstration, we characterized the conversion of a linear four-qubit cluster state into different entangled states, including GHZ and Dicke states. The high quality of the experimental results show that the gate has the potential of being a flexible component in distributed quantum photonic networks.

Plasmon Injection to Compensate and Control Losses in Negative Index Metamaterials.

Metamaterials have introduced a whole new world of unusual materials with functionalities that cannot be attained in naturally occurring material systems by mimicking and controlling the natural phenomena at subwavelength scales. However, the inherent absorption losses pose a fundamental challenge to the most fascinating applications of metamaterials. Based on a novel plasmon injection (PI or Π) scheme, we propose a coherent optical amplification technique to compensate losses in metamaterials. Although the proof of concept device here operates under normal incidence only, our proposed scheme can be generalized to an arbitrary form of incident waves. The Π scheme is fundamentally different from major optical amplification schemes. It does not require a gain medium, interaction with phonons, or any nonlinear medium. The Π scheme allows for loss-free metamaterials. It is ideally suited for mitigating losses in metamaterials operating in the visible spectrum and is scalable to other optical frequencies. These findings open the possibility of reviving the early dreams of making "magical" metamaterials from scratch.

Optomechanically-induced transparency in parity-time-symmetric microresonators.

Optomechanically-induced transparency (OMIT) and the associated slowing of light provide the basis for storing photons in nanoscale devices. Here we study OMIT in parity-time (PT)-symmetric microresonators with a tunable gain-to-loss ratio. This system features a sideband-reversed, non-amplifying transparency, i.e., an inverted-OMIT. When the gain-to-loss ratio is varied, the system exhibits a transition from a PT-symmetric phase to a broken-PT-symmetric phase. This PT-phase transition results in the reversal of the pump and gain dependence of the transmission rates. Moreover, we show that by tuning the pump power at a fixed gain-to-loss ratio, or the gain-to-loss ratio at a fixed pump power, one can switch from slow to fast light and vice versa. These findings provide new tools for controlling light propagation using nanofabricated phononic devices.

Quantum entanglement distillation with metamaterials.

We propose a scheme for the distillation of partially entangled two-photon Bell and three-photon W states using metamaterials. The distillation of partially entangled Bell states is achieved by using two metamaterials with polarization dependence, one of which is rotated by π/2 around the direction of propagation of the photons. On the other hand, the distillation of three-photon W states is achieved by using one polarization dependent metamaterial and two polarization independent metamaterials. Upon transmission of the photons of the partially entangled states through the metamaterials the entanglement of the states increases and they become distilled. This work opens up new directions in quantum optical state engineering by showing how metamaterials can be used to carry out a quantum information processing task.

Interfacing whispering-gallery microresonators and free space light with cavity enhanced Rayleigh scattering.

Whispering gallery mode resonators (WGMRs) take advantage of strong light confinement and long photon lifetime for applications in sensing, optomechanics, microlasers and quantum optics. However, their rotational symmetry and low radiation loss impede energy exchange between WGMs and the surrounding. As a result, free-space coupling of light into and from WGMRs is very challenging. In previous schemes, resonators are intentionally deformed to break circular symmetry to enable free-space coupling of carefully aligned focused light, which comes with bulky size and alignment issues that hinder the realization of compact WGMR applications. Here, we report a new class of nanocouplers based on cavity enhanced Rayleigh scattering from nano-scatterer(s) on resonator surface, and demonstrate whispering gallery microlaser by free-space optical pumping of an Ytterbium doped silica microtoroid via the scatterers. This new scheme will not only expand the range of applications enabled by WGMRs, but also provide a possible route to integrate them into solar powered green photonics.

High quality factor silica microspheres functionalized with self-assembled nanomaterials.

With extremely low material absorption and exceptional surface smoothness, silica-based optical resonators can achieve extremely high cavity quality (Q) factors. However, the intrinsic material limitations of silica (e.g., lack of second order nonlinearity) may limit the potential applications of silica-based high Q resonators. Here we report some results in utilizing layer-by-layer self-assembly to functionalize silica microspheres with nonlinear and plasmonic nanomaterials while maintaining Q factors as high as 10(7). We compare experimentally measured Q factors with theoretical estimates, and find good agreement.

Quantum statistics of surface plasmon polaritons in metallic stripe waveguides.

Heralded single surface plasmon polaritons are excited using photons generated via spontaneous parametric down conversion. The mean excitation rates, intensity correlations, and Fock state populations are studied. The observed dependence of the second-order coherence in our experiment is consistent with a linear uncorrelated Markovian environment in the quantum regime. Our results provide important information about the effect of loss for assessing the potential of plasmonic waveguides for future nanophotonic circuitry in the quantum regime.