Line-wave waveguide engineering using Hermitian and non-Hermitian metasurfaces.

Line waves (LWs) refer to confined edge modes that propagate along the interface of dual electromagnetic metasurfaces while maintaining mirror reflection symmetries. Previous research has both theoretically and experimentally investigated these waves, revealing their presence in the microwave and terahertz frequency ranges. In addition, a comprehensive exploration has been conducted on the implementation of non-Hermitian LWs by establishing the parity-time symmetry. This study introduces a cutting-edge dual-band line-wave waveguide, enabling the realization of LWs within the terahertz and infrared spectrums. Our work is centered around analyzing the functionalities of existing applications of LWs within a specific field. In addition, a novel non-Hermitian platform is proposed. We address feasible practical implementations of non-Hermitian LWs by placing a graphene-based metasurface on an epsilon-near-zero material. This study delves into the advantages of the proposed framework compared to previously examined structures, involving both analytical and numerical examinations of how these waves propagate and the underlying physical mechanisms.

Penrose tiling-inspired graphene-covered multiband terahertz metamaterial absorbers.

In this work, we propose two different graphene-covered nanostructured metamaterial absorbers inspired by Penrose tiling. These absorbers allow spectrally tunable absorption within the terahertz spectrum corresponding to 0.2-20 THz. We have conducted finite-difference time-domain analyses to determine the tunability of these metamaterial absorbers. The proposed structures, Penrose models 1 and 2, perform differently from each other due to their design characteristics. Penrose model 2 reaches a perfect absorption at 8.58 THz. In addition, the relative absorption bandwidth calculated at full-wave at half-maximum in Penrose model 2 varies between 5.2% and 9.4%, which characterizes the metamaterial absorber as a wideband absorber. Also, we can observe that as we increase the Fermi level of graphene from 0.1 to 1 eV, the absorption bandwidth and relative absorption bandwidth both increase. Our findings show the high tunability of both models through varying graphene's Fermi level, the graphene's thickness, the substrate's refractive index, and the proposed structures' polarization. We can further observe multiple tunable absorption profiles that may find applications in designer infrared absorbers, optoelectronic devices, and THz sensors.

Modeling and analysis of high-sensitivity refractive index sensors based on plasmonic absorbers with Fano response in the near-infrared spectral region.

In this paper, we present various optical metamaterial nanoabsorbers with the aim of improving the refractive index sensitivity using the Fano response. The proposed absorbers consist of various parasitic elements such as single cross, broken cross, Jerusalem cross, and also single L and double L models. We numerically study their absorption and reflection using the three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain method and calculate the sensitivity and figure of merit (FOM) in every absorption peak (reflection dip). Our simulations reveal that the Fano resonance at longer wavelengths can be used for increasing the sensitivity and FOM. The proposed absorbers have been coated with an external material with a maximum thickness of 100 nm and refractive indices in the range of 1.05-1.2. We also study and compare the FOM for these structures. They are modified for 900 and 1200-1300 nm. The maximum FOM is achieved around 2400 RIU-1 for the double L nanoabsorber coated with 1.05 indexed material, while its sensitivity is 473 nm/RIU. This absorber is an appropriate component for the design of highly sensitive optical sensors.

Dispersion-engineered microstructured optical fiber for mid-infrared supercontinuum generation.

Due to the large scientific and technical interest in the mid-infrared (MIR) spectral region, and the limitations of MIR light sources, we focus on the generation of a broad supercontinuum inside a short piece of As2Se3 microstructured optical fiber (MOF) with a square lattice. This is accomplished by filling the holes in the innermost ring of the proposed MOF with Ge33As12Se55 to produce ultraflat and near-zero dispersion. Simulations reveal that, by launching 100 fs input pulses centered at λ0=6.2 µm with a peak power of 2 kW into the MOF, an optical spectrum as wide as 9.5 µm will be achieved. This spectrum is a suitable source for MIR applications such as spectroscopy, food quality control, and gas sensing.

Super-flat coherent supercontinuum source in As38.8Se61.2 chalcogenide photonic crystal fiber with all-normal dispersion engineering at a very low input energy.

We numerically report super-flat coherent mid-infrared supercontinuum (MIR-SC) generation in a chalcogenide As38.8Se61.2 photonic crystal fiber (PCF). The dispersion and nonlinear parameters of As38.8Se61.2 chalcogenide PCFs by varying the diameter of the air holes are engineered to obtain all-normal dispersion (ANDi) with high nonlinearities. We show that launching low-energy 50 fs optical pulses with 0.88 kW peak power (corresponding to pulse energy of 0.05 nJ) at a central wavelength of 3.7 µm into a 5 cm long ANDi-PCF generates a flat-top coherent MIR-SC spanning from 2900 to 4575 nm with a high spectral flatness of 3 dB. This ultra-wide and flattened spectrum has excellent stability and coherence properties that can be used for MIR applications such as medical diagnosis of diseases, atmospheric pollution monitoring, and drug detection.

Midinfrared supercontinuum generation via As2Se3 chalcogenide photonic crystal fibers.

Using numerical analysis, we compare the results of optofluidic and rod filling techniques for the broadening of supercontinuum spectra generated by As2Se3 chalcogenide photonic crystal fibers (PCFs). The numerical results show that when air-holes constituting the innermost ring in a PCF made of As2Se3-based chalcogenide glass are filled with rods of As2Se3-based chalcogenide glass, over a wide range of mid-IR wavelengths, an ultra-flattened near-zero dispersion can be obtained, while the total loss is negligible and the PCF nonlinearity is very high. The simulations also show that when a 50 fs input optical pulse of 10 kW peak power and center wavelength of 4.6 µm is launched into a 50 mm long rod-filled chalcogenide PCF, a ripple-free spectral broadening as wide as 3.86 µm can be obtained.