Strong group velocity dispersion compensation with phase-engineered sheet metamaterials

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel method using phase-engineered sheet metamaterials to effectively compensate for group-velocity dispersion in optical fibers, enhancing telecommunication system performance.

Contribution

It presents a new stacking approach of dispersive sheet metamaterials for customizable, low-loss dispersion compensation in optical communications.

Findings

Effective dispersion compensation for both negative and positive coefficients.

High customizability and small footprint of the metamaterial system.

Strong dispersion management without significant transmission loss.

Abstract

Resonant metamaterials usually exhibit substantial dispersion, which is considered a shortcoming for many applications. Here we take advantage of the ability to tailor the dispersive response of a metamaterial introducing a new method of group-velocity dispersion compensation in telecommunication systems. The method consists of stacking a number of highly dispersive sheet metamaterials and is capable of compensating the dispersion of optical fibers with either negative or positive group-velocity dispersion coefficients. We demonstrate that the phase-engineered metamaterial can provide strong group-velocity dispersion management without being adversely affected by large transmission loss, while at the same time offering high customizability and small footprint.