Search

Optical metasurfaces consist of a 2D arrangement of scatterers, and they control the amplitude, phase, and polarization of an incidence field on demand. Optical metasurfaces are the cornerstone for a future generation of flat optical devices in a wide range of applications. The rapidly growing advances in nanofabrication have made the versatile design and analysis of these ultra-thin surfaces an ever-growing necessity. However, despite their importance, a comprehensive theory to describe the optical response of periodic metasurfaces in closed-form and analytical expressions has not been formulated, and prior attempts were frequently approximate. Here, we develop a theory that analytically links the properties of the scatterer, from which a periodic metasurface is made, to its optical response via the lattice coupling matrix. The scatterers are represented by their polarizability or T matrix, and our theory works for normal and oblique incidence. We provide explicit expressions for the optical response up to octupolar order in both spherical and Cartesian coordinates. Several examples demonstrate that our analytical tool constitutes a paradigm shift in designing and understanding optical metasurfaces. Novel fully-diffracting metagratings and particle-independent polarization filters are proposed, and novel insights into the response of Huygens' metasurfaces under oblique incidence are provided. Our analytical expressions are a powerful tool for exploring the physics of metasurfaces and designing novel flat optics devices., Comment: 43 pages (Main: 23, SM: 20), 9 Figures, 2 Tables

We theoretically investigate the optical force exerted on an isotropic particle illuminated by a superposition of plane waves. We derive explicit analytical expressions for the exerted force up to quadrupolar polarizabilities. Based on these analytical expressions, we demonstrate that an illumination consisting of two tilted plane waves can provide a full control on the optical force. In particular, optical pulling, pushing and lateral forces can be obtained by the proper tuning of illumination parameters. Our findings might unlock multiple applications based on a deterministic control of the spatial motion of small particles.

Material electromagnetic duality symmetry requires a system to have equal electric and magnetic responses. Electromagnetic duality enables technologically important effects like artificial optical activity and zero back-scattering, is a requirement for metamaterials in transformation optics, Huygens wave-front control, and maximal electromagnetic chirality, and appears in topological photonic systems. Intrinsically dual materials that meet the duality conditions at the level of the constitutive relations do not exist in many frequency bands. Nevertheless, discrete objects like metallic helices and homogeneous dielectric spheres can be engineered to approximate the dual behavior. The discrete objects can then be used as building blocks with the objective of obtaining composite systems with high duality symmetry. Here, we exploit the extra degrees of freedom of a core-shell dielectric sphere to obtain a particle whose duality symmetry is more than one order of magnitude better than previously reported non-magnetic objects. We show that the improvement is transferred onto the duality symmetry of composite objects when the core-shell particle is used as a building block instead of homogeneous spheres., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, 1 table

On the one hand, electromagnetic dual particles preserve the helicity of light upon interaction. On the other hand, chiral particles respond differently to light of opposite helicity. These two properties on their own constitute a source of fascination. Their combined action, however, is less explored. Here, we study on analytical grounds the force and torque as well as the optical cross sections of dual chiral particles in the dipolar approximation exerted by a particular wave of well-defined helicity: A circularly polarized plane wave. We put emphasis on particles that possess a maximally electromagnetic chiral and hence dual response. Besides the analytical insights, we also investigate the exerted optical force and torque on a real particle at the example of a metallic helix that is designed to approach the maximal electromagnetic chirality condition. Various applications in the context of optical sorting but also nanorobotics can be foreseen considering the particles studied in this contribution., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures

Optical force and torque provide unprecedented control on the spatial motion of small particles. A valid scientific question, that has many practical implications, concerns the existence of fundamental upper bounds for the achievable force and torque exerted by a plane wave illumination with a given intensity. Here, while studying isotropic particles, we show that different light-matter interaction channels contribute to the exerted force and torque; and analytically derive upper bounds for each of the contributions. Specific examples for particles that achieve those upper bounds are provided. We study how and to which extent different contributions can add up to result in the maximum optical force and torque. Our insights are important for applications ranging from molecular sorting, particle manipulation, nanorobotics up to ambitious projects such as laser-propelled spaceships., Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables, Supplemental Material (27 pages, 6 figures)

The study of high-index dielectric nanoparticles currently attracts a lot of attention. They do not suffer from absorption but promise to provide control on the properties of light comparable to plasmonic nanoparticles. To further advance the field, it is important to identify versatile dielectric nanoparticles with unconventional properties. Here, we show that breaking the symmetry of an all-dielectric nanoparticle leads to a geometrically tunable magneto-electric coupling, i.e. an omega-type bianisotropy. The suggested nanoparticle exhibits different backscatterings and, as an interesting consequence, different optical scattering forces for opposite illumination directions. An array of such nanoparticles provides different reflection phases when illuminated from opposite directions. With a proper geometrical tuning, this bianisotropic nanoparticle is capable of providing a $2\pi$ phase change in the reflection spectrum while possessing a rather large and constant amplitude. This allows creating reflectarrays with near-perfect transmission out of the resonance band due to the absence of an usually employed metallic screen., Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures