Metamaterial interface waveguides can confine and guide electromagnetic (EM) waves, which has exciting potential in integrated photonic physics and wireless devices from radio frequencies to optical bands. Energy flow in waveguides can be fully controlled by sorting near-field light waves according to their sensitivity (chirality), which determines the direction of energy transmission. Chirality sorting is an important process to develop in the field of chiral photonics. In the future, chiral sorting metadevices could be fully digitized and programmable, so that the reconfigurable unidirectional transmission pathways and scattering performance of artificial structures can be simultaneously controlled with fantastic functions.
To achieve this, it is necessary to better understand the characteristics and possible applications of the different on-board modes. As reported in Advanced Photonicsresearchers from Southeast University, Dalian Maritime University and the University of California, San Diego collaborated to visualize various unidirectional edge waves in micro-metamaterial interface waveguides. waves, based on localized sources carrying spin angular momentum and orbital angular momentum.
In their work, they present a local source of light beams, composed of an array of electrical probes. Their design incorporates a broadband feed network to ensure the angular momentum performance of the light beams. For their systematic experiments, they established a near-field scanning platform to directly measure one-way transmission. Based on their observations of three edge states – falsified surface plasmon polaritons, line waves, and valley topological insulators – they evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Overall, this research advances the field of chiral photonics science and promotes applications of chiral sorting technology, especially for microwave metadevices. According to corresponding author Tie Jun Cui of the State Key Laboratory of Millimeter Waves of Nanjing Southeast University, “Developing the freedom of microwave angular momentum in waveguides is significant for increasing the capacity of channels and design robust and flexible devices.Based on various metamaterial interface waveguides, new metadevices such as filters, splitters, antennas and multiplexers can be widely used in radar and communication systems .
– This press release was originally published on the SPIE — Site of the International Society of Optics and Photonics