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Experimental Verification of n=0 Structures for Visible Light

Ernst Jan R. Vesseur, Toon Coenen, Humeyra Caglayan, Nader Engheta, and Albert Polman
Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 013902 – Published 2 January 2013
Physics logo See Viewpoint: Metal-Coated Waveguide Stretches Wavelengths to Infinity
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Abstract

We fabricate and characterize a metal-dielectric nanostructure with an effective refractive index n=0 in the visible spectral range. Light is excited in the material at deep subwavelength resolution by a 30-keV electron beam. From the measured spatially and angle-resolved emission patterns, a vanishing phase advance, corresponding to an effective ϵ=0 and n=0, is directly observed at the cutoff frequency. The wavelength at which this condition is observed can be tuned over the entire visible or near-infrared spectral range by varying the waveguide width. This n=0 plasmonic nanostructure may serve as a new building block in nanoscale optical integrated circuits and to control spontaneous emission as experimentally demonstrated by the strongly enhanced radiative optical density of states over the entire n=0 structure.

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  • Received 18 May 2012

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.013902

© 2013 American Physical Society

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Metal-Coated Waveguide Stretches Wavelengths to Infinity

Published 2 January 2013

A zero refractive index at optical frequencies, as demonstrated in a new nanoscale waveguide, enables opportunities for better control and enhancement of light propagation in waveguides, as well as development of photonic nanocircuits.

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Authors & Affiliations

Ernst Jan R. Vesseur1, Toon Coenen1, Humeyra Caglayan2, Nader Engheta2, and Albert Polman1,*

  • 1Center for Nanophotonics, FOM Institute AMOLF, Science Park 104, 1098 XG Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • 2Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, 200 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6314, USA

  • *polman@amolf.nl

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Issue

Vol. 110, Iss. 1 — 4 January 2013

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