Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 30, 2026
11:08
Fabrication And Characterization Of Photonic Crystal Slow Light Waveguides And Cavities
Published on: November 30, 2012
18.7K
Completely stopped and dispersionless light in plasmonic waveguides.
Kosmas L Tsakmakidis1, Tim W Pickering1, Joachim M Hamm1
1Blackett Laboratory, Department of Physics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom.
Physical Review Letters
|May 13, 2014
Summary
We demonstrate a novel method to completely stop light pulses in plasmonic heterostructures using complex-frequency modes. This technique is robust against losses and achieves unprecedented light deceleration factors in nanophotonic media.
Area of Science:
- * Photonics
- * Nanophotonics
- * Materials Science
Background:
- * Plasmonic heterostructures offer unique light-matter interactions.
- * Controlling light propagation in integrated nanophotonic devices is challenging.
- * Losses (dissipative, radiative, surface roughness) limit light manipulation.
Purpose of the Study:
- * To introduce a scheme for complete and dispersionless light stopping in plasmonic heterostructures.
- * To demonstrate resilience to realistic optical losses.
- * To achieve extraordinary light deceleration factors in integrated nanophotonics.
Main Methods:
- * Excitation of complex-frequency modes using a time-dependent source.
- * Theoretical analysis of light pulse dynamics in uniform plasmonic heterostructures.
- * Utilizing transparent conducting oxides at telecommunication wavelengths.
Main Results:
- * Achieved complete and dispersionless stopping of light pulses.
- * Demonstrated robustness against dissipative, radiative, and surface-roughness losses.
- * Obtained light deceleration factors of ~1.5×107 in integrated nanophotonic media.
Conclusions:
- * The proposed scheme enables unprecedented control over light propagation in nanophotonic media.
- * This method offers an alternative to ultracold atomic vapors or quantum coherence effects for extreme light deceleration.
- * Potential applications in integrated optical circuits and advanced photonic devices.
