Suppression of scattering for small dielectric particles: an anapole mode and invisibility

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that small high-refractive-index dielectric particles can achieve near-invisibility by exciting an anapole mode, which suppresses scattering through destructive interference of dipole moments.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of using an anapole mode to suppress scattering in subwavelength particles, enabling highly transparent optical materials.

Findings

Ultra-weak scattering due to electric dipole cancellation

Anapole mode explained by Fano resonance

Potential for designing transparent optical materials

Abstract

We reveal that an isotropic homogeneous subwavelength particle with a high refractive index can produce ultra-weak total scattering due to vanishing contribution of the electric dipole moment. This effect can be explained with the help of the Fano resonance and scattering efficiency associated with the excitation of an anapole mode. The latter is a nonradiative mode emerging from destructive interference of electric and toroidal dipole moments, and it can be employed for a design of highly transparent optical materials.