Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 1, 2026

10:35
Using Microwave and Macroscopic Samples of Dielectric Solids to Study the Photonic Properties of Disordered Photonic Bandgap Materials
Published on: September 26, 2014
Realization of reflectionless potentials in photonic lattices.
Alexander Szameit1, Felix Dreisow, Matthias Heinrich
1Physics Department and Solid State Institute, Technion, 32000 Haifa, Israel. alexander.szameit@uni-jena.de
Physical Review Letters
|June 15, 2011
Summary
Researchers created a true reflectionless potential for nonresonant unity transmission and localized modes. This breakthrough uses optical waveguide arrays to realize specific Ablowitz-Ladik soliton potentials.
Area of Science:
- Photonics
- Nonlinear Optics
- Waveguide Optics
Background:
- Reflectionless potentials allow complete transmission of waves without backscattering.
- Localized modes can trap and confine energy within a system.
- Ablowitz-Ladik potentials are a specific class of exactly solvable potentials in nonlinear systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To experimentally demonstrate a true reflectionless potential.
- To achieve nonresonant unity transmission for all incident waves.
- To support localized modes within the reflectionless potential framework.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing arrays of evanescently coupled optical waveguides.
- Modulating the transverse waveguide separations to engineer the potential.
- Implementing the Ablowitz-Ladik soliton potential model.
Main Results:
- Successful experimental realization of a true reflectionless potential.
- Demonstration of nonresonant unity transmission across all frequencies.
- Observation of stable localized modes coexisting with perfect transmission.
Conclusions:
- The experimental setup provides a physical platform for reflectionless potentials.
- This work opens avenues for novel optical devices with unique transmission and localization properties.
- The findings validate the theoretical predictions of Ablowitz-Ladik potentials in optical systems.
Related Concept Videos
Bewley Lattice Diagram
The Bewley lattice diagram, developed by L. V. Bewley, effectively organizes the reflections occurring during transmission-line transients. It visually represents how voltage waves propagate and reflect within a transmission line, making it easier to understand the complex interactions that occur.
The de Broglie Wavelength
In the macroscopic world, objects that are large enough to be seen by the naked eye follow the rules of classical physics. A billiard ball moving on a table will behave like a particle; it will continue traveling in a straight line unless it collides with another ball, or it is acted on by some other force, such as friction. The ball has a well-defined position and velocity or well-defined momentum, p = mv, which is defined by mass m and velocity v at any given moment. This is the typical...
Reflection of Waves
When a wave travels from one medium to another, it gets reflected at the boundary of the second medium. A common example of this is when a person yells at a distance from a cliff and hears the echo of their voice. The sound waves (longitudinal waves) traveling in the air are reflected from the bounding cliff. Similarly, flipping one end of a string whose other end is tied to a wall causes a pulse (transverse wave) to travel through the string, which gets reflected upon reaching the wall. In...

