Optical PT-Symmetric Counterparts of Ordinary Metals

• Published in: IEEE journal of selected topics in quantum electronics Vol. 22; no. 5; pp. 89 - 97
• Main Author: Valagiannopoulos, Constantinos A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.09.2016; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Aluminum; Complex permittivity; Copper; Media; Metal; Metals; Optical frequency; parity-time (PT) symmetry; Permittivity; Photonics; Platinum; Population inversion; quantum dot (QD); Quantum dots; Resonant frequency; Silver; visible spectrum; quantum dot (QD); parity-time (PT) symmetry; Metal; visible spectrum
• ISSN: 1077-260X; 1558-4542
• DOI: 10.1109/JSTQE.2015.2511582

How one can fabricate the Parity-Time (PT) symmetric siblings of commonly used metals in the visible? This paper tries to give an answer to that question by providing the features of the active media, which conjugately pair the complex permittivities of the ordinary metals (Copper, Aluminum, Silver, Gold, Platinum) at the optical frequencies. The frequency response model of the quantum dots (QDs) is used to evaluate the effective permittivity of the active material; their characteristics which give a PT-symmetric counterpart for the considered metal are deduced through a multi-step optimization process. The required resonance frequencies, loss factors, and degrees of population inversion for the QDs are provided for various frequencies and metals. The response of the metals when they are PT-symmetrically coupled with the provided mixtures is demonstrated in specific photonic configurations and interesting properties with certain applicability potential are revealed.