Tunable Negative Refraction without Absorption via Electromagnetically Induced Chirality

Jürgen Kästel, Michael Fleischhauer, Susanne F. Yelin, and Ronald L. Walsworth
Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 073602 – Published 16 August 2007

Abstract

We show that negative refraction with minimal absorption can be obtained by means of quantum interference effects similar to electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). Coupling a magnetic dipole transition coherently with an electric dipole transition leads to electromagnetically induced chirality, which can provide negative refraction without requiring negative permeability and also suppress absorption. This technique allows negative refraction in the optical regime at densities where the magnetic susceptibility is still small and with refraction/absorption ratios that are orders of magnitude larger than those achievable previously. Furthermore, the refractive index can be fine-tuned, which is essential for practical realization of subdiffraction-limit imaging. As with EIT, electromagnetically induced chirality should be applicable to a wide range of systems.

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  • Received 5 March 2007

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.073602

©2007 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Jürgen Kästel1, Michael Fleischhauer1, Susanne F. Yelin2,3, and Ronald L. Walsworth3,4

  • 1Fachbereich Physik, Technische Universität Kaiserslautern, D-67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany
  • 2Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA
  • 3ITAMP, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
  • 4Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA

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Vol. 99, Iss. 7 — 17 August 2007

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