Scattering exceptional point in the visible

Tao He; Zhanyi Zhang; Jingyuan Zhu; Yuzhi Shi; Zhipeng Li; Heng Wei; Zeyong Wei; Yong Li; Zhanshan Wang; Cheng-Wei Qiu; Xinbin Cheng

doi:10.1038/s41377-023-01282-4

Scattering exceptional point in the visible

Light Sci Appl. 2023 Sep 15;12(1):229. doi: 10.1038/s41377-023-01282-4.

Authors

Tao He^#^{1

2

3

4

5

6}, Zhanyi Zhang^#^{1

2

3

4

5}, Jingyuan Zhu^#^{1

2

3

4

5}, Yuzhi Shi^{1

2

3

4

5}, Zhipeng Li⁷, Heng Wei⁷, Zeyong Wei^{1

2

3

4

5}, Yong Li⁸, Zhanshan Wang^{1

2

3

4

5}, Cheng-Wei Qiu⁹, Xinbin Cheng^{10

11

12

13

14}

Affiliations

¹ MOE Key Laboratory of Advanced Micro-Structured Materials, Shanghai, 200092, China.
² Institute of Precision Optical Engineering, School of Physics Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China.
³ Shanghai Institute of Intelligent Science and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China.
⁴ Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Digital Optics, Shanghai, 200092, China.
⁵ Shanghai Professional Technical Service Platform for Full-Spectrum and High-Performance Optical Thin Film Devices and Applications, Shanghai, 200092, China.
⁶ Department of Electronic Science and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, 201804, China.
⁷ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117583, Singapore.
⁸ Institute of Acoustics, School of Physics Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 20092, China.
⁹ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117583, Singapore. chengwei.qiu@nus.edu.sg.
¹⁰ MOE Key Laboratory of Advanced Micro-Structured Materials, Shanghai, 200092, China. chengxb@tongji.edu.cn.
¹¹ Institute of Precision Optical Engineering, School of Physics Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China. chengxb@tongji.edu.cn.
¹² Shanghai Institute of Intelligent Science and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China. chengxb@tongji.edu.cn.
¹³ Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Digital Optics, Shanghai, 200092, China. chengxb@tongji.edu.cn.
¹⁴ Shanghai Professional Technical Service Platform for Full-Spectrum and High-Performance Optical Thin Film Devices and Applications, Shanghai, 200092, China. chengxb@tongji.edu.cn.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Exceptional point (EP) is a special degeneracy of non-Hermitian systems. One-dimensional transmission systems operating at EPs are widely studied and applied to chiral conversion and sensing. Lately, two-dimensional systems at EPs have been exploited for their exotic scattering features, yet so far been limited to only the non-visible waveband. Here, we report a universal paradigm for achieving a high-efficiency EP in the visible by leveraging interlayer loss to accurately control the interplay between the lossy structure and scattering lightwaves. A bilayer framework is demonstrated to reflect back the incident light from the left side ( | r_-1 | >0.999) and absorb the incident light from the right side ( | r₊₁ | < 10^-4). As a proof of concept, a bilayer metasurface is demonstrated to reflect and absorb the incident light with experimental efficiencies of 88% and 85%, respectively, at 532 nm. Our results open the way for a new class of nanoscale devices and power up new opportunities for EP physics.

Grants and funding

61925504, 62192770, 61621001, 62205246, 62020106009, 6201101335, 62205249, 62192772, 62192771/National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China)