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Subradiant directional memory in cooperative scattering

Nature Photonics volume 16, pages 148–153 (2022)Cite this article

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A Publisher Correction to this article was published on 27 January 2022

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Abstract

The interaction between electromagnetic fields and randomly structured matter is at the core of many natural phenomena. In the steady state, its microscopic description involves the superposition of the incoming radiation and the field due to the presence of the material system. Owing to reciprocity, this secondary emission manifests a striking coherent feature leading to an enhancement of backward intensity. This portrayal is complicated when the incident field is suddenly shut off since the outcome depends on both the spatial and temporal properties of radiation. Here we demonstrate that a directional memory of the incoming field persists long after the incident radiation ceases to be present within a spatially bounded medium. Our results reveal that a coherent back-emission emerges as a result of subradiant quasi-modes of an electromagnetic field located primarily in the vicinity of the medium’s interface. The paradigm is general and complements the rich phenomenology of light interaction with strongly scattered matter. The temporal and spatial properties of this long-lived, reciprocity-maintaining radiation depend on the type of illumination, which opens up new opportunities for memory applications.

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Fig. 1: Long-lived directional memory in secondary emission.
Fig. 2: Initial conditions of coupled oscillators.
Fig. 3: Angular distributions of far-field intensities azimuthally averaged and recorded at three different delays: 0, 12.5γ−1, and 25γ−1.
Fig. 4: Time-resolved angular intensity distribution for a cylindrical medium consisting of 125 randomly distributed scatterers with \(\bar d\) = 0.3λ.

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All the data used within this paper are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Office of Naval Research (N00014-20-1-2789).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA

    Z. Shen & A. Dogariu

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  1. Z. Shen
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Contributions

Both authors developed the idea and prepared the manuscript. Z.S. conducted the numerical calculations and A.D. supervised the project.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. Dogariu.

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Nature Photonics thanks Jean-Jacques Greffet and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Figs. 1–5 and discussions.

Supplementary Video 1

The concept of coupled scatterers illuminated by Dirac δ pulse.

Supplementary Video 2

The concept of coupled scatterers illuminated by Heaviside H pulse.

Supplementary Video 3

The intensity dynamics for spherical random media (mean distance: 2.4λ, media radius: 7.5λ) illuminated by δ pulse.

Supplementary Video 4

The intensity dynamics for spherical random media (mean distance: 1.2λ, media radius: 3.8λ) illuminated by δ pulse.

Supplementary Video 5

The intensity dynamics for spherical random media (mean distance: 0.3λ, media radius: 0.9λ) illuminated by δ pulse.

Supplementary Video 6

The intensity dynamics for spherical random media (mean distance: 2.4λ, media radius: 7.5λ) illuminated by H pulse.

Supplementary Video 7

The intensity dynamics for spherical random media (mean distance: 1.2λ, media radius: 3.8λ) illuminated by H pulse.

Supplementary Video 8

The intensity dynamics for spherical random media (mean distance: 0.3λ, media radius: 0.9λ) illuminated by H pulse.

Supplementary Video 9

The intensity dynamics for spherical random media (mean distance: 0.6λ, media radius: 3.8λ) illuminated by δ pulse.

Supplementary Video 10

The intensity dynamics for spherical random media (mean distance: 0.3λ, media radius: 3.8λ) illuminated by δ pulse.

Supplementary Video 11

The intensity dynamics for spherical random media (mean distance: 0.6λ, media radius: 3.8λ) illuminated by H pulse.

Supplementary Video 12

The intensity dynamics for spherical random media (mean distance: 0.3λ, media radius: 3.8λ) illuminated by H pulse.

Supplementary Video 13

The intensity dynamics for cylindrical random media (mean distance: 0.3λ) illuminated by δ pulse (incidence angle: 45 deg).

Supplementary Video 14

The intensity dynamics for cylindrical random media (mean distance: 0.3λ) illuminated by H pulse (incidence angle: 45 deg).

Supplementary Video 15

The energy storage for spherical random media (mean distance: 0.6λ, media radius: 3.8λ) illuminated by δ pulse.

Supplementary Video 16

The energy storage for spherical random media (mean distance: 0.3λ, media radius: 3.8λ) illuminated by δ pulse.

Supplementary Video 17

The energy storage for spherical random media (mean distance: 0.6λ, media radius: 3.8λ) illuminated by H pulse.

Supplementary Video 18

The energy storage for spherical random media (mean distance: 0.3λ, media radius: 3.8λ) illuminated by H pulse.

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Shen, Z., Dogariu, A. Subradiant directional memory in cooperative scattering. Nat. Photon. 16, 148–153 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-021-00926-4

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