A simple light-trapping device from a hyperbolic metamaterial on a catenoid

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a simple light-trapping device using a hyperbolic metamaterial on a catenoid surface, combining ray and wave optics to show effective light confinement.

Contribution

It introduces a novel light-trapping device design based on hyperbolic metamaterials on a catenoid surface, validated through trajectory analysis and neural network simulations.

Findings

Light rays tend to wrap and be trapped around the device's neck.

Wave solutions confirm the existence of bound states.

Neural networks effectively solve the relevant equations.

Abstract

By using both ray and wave optics, we show that a simple device which consists on a film of hyperbolic metamaterial on the surface of a catenoid can be used to trap light. From the study of the trajectories, we observe a tendency for the light rays to wrap, and eventually be trapped, around the neck of the device. The wave equation appears to have an effective attractive potential, and their solutions confirm the bound states suggested by the trajectories. The relevant equations are solved numerically using neural networks.