Transverse Anderson localization of light: a tutorial review

TL;DR

This tutorial review provides a comprehensive overview of transverse Anderson localization of light, covering basic theory, experimental observations, and advanced topics like nonlinearity and quantum effects in disordered optical systems.

Contribution

It offers a pedagogical synthesis of theoretical models, experimental results, and recent advances in the study of light localization in disordered media.

Findings

Experimental evidence of localization in disordered fibers

Illustration of hyper-transport phenomena

Impact of nonlinearity on localization

Abstract

This tutorial review gives an overview of the transverse Anderson localization of light in one and two transverse dimensions. A pedagogical approach is followed throughout the presentation, where many aspects of localization are illustrated by means of a few simple models. The tutorial starts with some basic aspects of random matrix theory, and light propagation through and reflection from a random stack of dielectric slabs. Transverse Anderson localization of light in one- and two-dimensional coupled waveguide arrays is subsequently established and discussed. Recent experimental observations of localization and image transport in disordered optical fibers are discussed. More advanced topics, such as hyper-transport in longitudinally varying disordered waveguides, the impact of nonlinearity, and propagation of partially coherent and quantum light, are also examined.