Publications by Year: 2016

2016
M.Mattheakis, C. A. Valagiannopoulos, and E. Kaxiras. 11/10/2016. “Epsilon-Near-Zero behavior from Plasmonic Dirac Point: theory and realization using two-dimensional materials.” Physical Review B, 94, 20, Pp. 201404(R). Publisher's VersionAbstract

The electromagnetic response of a two-dimensional metal embedded in a periodic array of a dielectric host can give rise to a plasmonic Dirac point that emulates Epsilon-Near-Zero (ENZ) behavior. This theoretical result is extremely sensitive to structural features like periodicity of the dielectric medium and thickness imperfections. We propose that such a device can actually be realized by using graphene as the 2D metal and materials like the layered semiconducting transition-metal dichalcogenides or hexagonal boron nitride as the dielectric host. We propose a systematic approach, in terms of design characteristics, for constructing metamaterials with linear, elliptical and hyperbolic dispersion relations which produce ENZ behavior, normal or negative diffraction.

arXiv_PDP_ENZ.pdf
M Mattheakis, I. J. Pitsios, G. P. Tsironis, and S. Tzortzakis. 2016. “Extreme events in complex linear and nonlinear photonic media.” Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, 84, Pp. 73-80. Publisher's VersionAbstract

Ocean rogue waves (RW) are huge solitary waves that have for long triggered the interest of scientists. The RWs emerge in a complex environment and it is still under investigation if they are due to linear or nonlinear processes. Recent works have demonstrated that RWs appear in various other physical systems such as microwaves, nonlinear crystals, cold atoms, etc. In this work we investigate optical wave propagation in strongly scattering random lattices embedded in the bulk of transparent glasses. In the linear regime we observe the appearance of extreme waves, RW-type, that depend solely on the scattering properties of the medium. Interestingly, the addition of nonlinearity does not modify the RW statistics, while as the nonlinearities are increased multiple-filamentation and intensity clamping destroy the RW statistics. Numerical simulations agree nicely with the experimental findings and altogether prove that optical rogue waves are generated through the linear strong scattering in such complex environments.

arXiv_ExtremeEvents.pdf
M.Mattheakis, T. Oikonomou, Μ Molina, and G. P. Tsironis. 2016. “Phase transition in PT symmetric active plasmonic systems.” IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, 22, 5, Pp. 1-7. Publisher's VersionAbstract

Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) are coherent electromagnetic surface waves trapped on an insulator-conductor interface. The SPPs decay exponentially along the propagation due to conductor losses, restricting the SPPs propagation length to few microns. Gain materials can be used to counterbalance the aforementioned losses. We provide an exact expression for the gain, in terms of the optical properties of the interface, for which the losses are eliminated. In addition, we show that systems characterized by lossless SPP propagation are related to PT symmetric systems. Furthermore, we derive an analytical critical value of the gain describing a phase transition between lossless and prohibited SPPs propagation. The regime of the aforementioned propagation can be directed by the optical properties of the system under scrutiny. Finally, we perform COMSOL simulations verifying the theoretical findings.

arXiv_PTplasmons.pdf