Sampling and Squeezing Electromagnetic Waves through Subwavelength Ultranarrow Regions or Openings

TL;DR

This paper explores a method to manipulate electromagnetic waves by sampling them pixel-by-pixel and squeezing the energy through ultranarrow channels using permittivity-near zero materials, enabling advanced nanoscale wave control.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed theoretical model and demonstrates the feasibility of sampling and squeezing electromagnetic waves through ultranarrow channels filled with silicon carbide.

Findings

Wave compression by several folds achieved

Sampling and squeezing concept validated with simulations

Potential for nanoscale electromagnetic wave control

Abstract

Here, we investigate the physical mechanisms that may enable squeezing a complex electromagnetic field distribution through a narrow and/or partially obstructed region with little amplitude and phase distortions. Following our recent works, such field manipulations may be made possible by a procedure in which the incoming wave is first "sampled" "pixel by pixel" using an array of metallic waveguides, and in a second step the energy corresponding to each individual pixel is "squeezed" through a very narrow channel filled with a permittivity-near zero material. In this work, we study in detail these processes in scenarios where the electromagnetic wave is compressed along a single direction of space, and present theoretical models that enable the analytical modeling of such phenomena. Full-wave results obtained with an electromagnetic simulator, demonstrate the possibility of compressing an incoming wave several folds through ultranarrow channels filled with silicon carbide. The "sampling and squeezing" concept may enable unparalleled control of electromagnetic waves in the nanoscale.