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Light transport

Breaking reciprocity

Nature Photonics volume 6, pages 506–507 (2012)Cite this article

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The reciprocity of light pulse propagation in a disordered photonic structure can be 'switched off' by creating a local, ultrafast nonlinearity.

The physics of light transport in random structures is a fascinating field that has recently received considerable attention, with photonics researchers investigating both its fundamental mechanisms and potential applications. One phenomenon widely studied is that of coherent backscattering (or weak localization), which is the optical analogy of the weak localization of electrons1. This phenomenon is based on reciprocity in random structures; light rays that follow random paths and exit in the backscattering direction can interfere, giving rise to an intensity enhancement known as a coherent backscattering cone. The notion that the interference of light survives random multiple scattering has led to very active research into disorder and light.

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Figure 1: Multiple scattering and reciprocity.

D. WIERSMA

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  1. Diederik Wiersma is director of the European Laboratory for Non-linear Spectroscopy at the University of Florence, and is a research director at the National Institute of Optics, Via Nello Carrera 1, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Firenze, Italy,

    Diederik S. Wiersma

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  1. Diederik S. Wiersma
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Correspondence to Diederik S. Wiersma.

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Wiersma, D. Breaking reciprocity. Nature Photon 6, 506–507 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2012.187

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