Spectral collapse in ensembles of meta-molecules

TL;DR

This paper reports a universal phenomenon called spectral line collapse in metamaterials, observed across microwave, terahertz, and optical frequencies, caused by electromagnetic interactions that suppress radiation losses as the number of meta-molecules increases.

Contribution

It introduces and experimentally demonstrates a new collective effect in metamaterials, linking spectral line collapse to classical electromagnetic interactions.

Findings

Spectral line collapse occurs with increasing meta-molecules.

The effect is observed across multiple frequency ranges.

It is driven by suppression of radiation losses.

Abstract

We report on a new collective phenomenon in metamaterials: spectral line collapse with increasing number of the unit cell resonators (meta-molecules). Resembling the behaviour of exotic states of matter, such as Bose-Einstein condensates of excitons and magnons, this new effect is linked to the suppression of radiation losses in periodic arrays. We demonstrate experimentally spectral line collapse at microwave, terahertz and optical frequencies. It emerges as a universal and truly scalable effect underpinned by classical electromagnetic interactions between the excited meta-molecules.