Experimental observation of the mobility edge in a waveguide with correlated disorder

TL;DR

This study experimentally confirms the existence of a mobility edge in a waveguide with correlated disorder, demonstrating control over transparent and non-transparent frequency bands through engineered correlations.

Contribution

It extends the correlated disorder model to the Kronig-Penney system and verifies predictions experimentally using microwave transmission measurements.

Findings

All predicted bands and mobility edges were observed experimentally.

Correlated scatterers enable tailored transparent and non-transparent frequency intervals.

The results validate the theoretical model of correlated disorder in waveguides.

Abstract

The tight-binding model with correlated disorder introduced by Izrailev and Krokhin [PRL 82, 4062 (1999)] has been extended to the Kronig-Penney model. The results of the calculations have been compared with microwave transmission spectra through a single-mode waveguide with inserted correlated scatterers. All predicted bands and mobility edges have been found in the experiment, thus demonstrating that any wanted combination of transparent and non-transparent frequency intervals can be realized experimentally by introducing appropriate correlations between scatterers.