Electrodynamics of Magnetoelectric Media and Magnetoelectric Fields

The relationship between magnetoelectricity and electromagnetism is a subject of a strong interest and numerous discussions in microwave and optical wave physics and material sciences. The definition of the energy and momentum of the electromagnetic (EM) field in a magnetoelectric (ME) medium is not a trivial problem. The question of whether electromagnetism and magnetoelectricity can coexist without an extension of Maxwell's theory arises when the effects of EM energy propagation are studied and the group velocity of the waves in an ME medium is considered. The energy balance equation reveals unusual topological structure of fields in ME materials. Together with certain constraints on the constitutive parameters of a medium, definite constraints on the local field structure should be imposed. Analyzing the EM phenomena inside an ME material, the question “what kind of the near fields arising from a sample of such a material can be measured?” should be answered. The visualization of the ME states requires an experimental technique that is based on an effective coupling to the violation of spatial as well as temporal inversion symmetry. To observe the ME energy in a subwavelength region, it is necessary to assume the existence of first-principle near fields—the ME fields. These are non-Maxwellian near fields with specific properties of violation of spatial and temporal inversion symmetry. A particular interest to the ME fields arises in studies of metamaterials with “artificial-atoms” ME elements.     

Magnetoelectric Energy in Electrodynamics: Magnetoelectricity,Bi(an)isotropy,and Magnetoelectric Meta-Atoms

Magnetoelectricity denotes the relationship between electric polarization and magnetization. In materials with an intrinsic magnetoelectric (ME) effect, the energy density comprises the polarization, magnetization, and ME energy densities. These three components of energy define local (subwavelength) characteristics of electromagnetic (EM) responses in multiferroic materials. In a subwavelength domain, coupling between the electric and magnetic dipole oscillations forms the ME field structures that are characterized by the violation of both spatial and temporal symmetry. Unlike multiferroics, bi(an)isotropic metamaterials are associated with an EM response characterized only by spatial symmetry breaking. This also applies to chiral materials. Since no “intrinsic magnetoelectricity” is assumed in such structures, any concepts about the stored ME energy are not applicable. This clearly points to the effect of nonlocality. That is why the basic concepts of bi(an)isotropy can only be analyzed by the EM far-field characteristics. In this paper, it is argued that in the implementation of local (subwavelength) ME meta-atoms and systems for near-field probing of chirality, the concept on ME energy is crucial. Real ME energy can occur when ME fields in a singular subwavelength domain are characterized by a violation of both the symmetry of time reversal and spatial reflection.     

Collective processes in a microsecond relativistic electron beam: Basic rules and mechanisms

Collective processes taking place in the space charge of a microsecond relativistic electron beam with magnetic insulation are considered. The space-time characteristics of the low-frequency and high-frequency oscillations are found, and the effect of the magnetic compression of the beam near the cathode on these oscillations is studied. It is shown that the basic source of the low-frequency oscillations is the collective motion of the space charge, which takes place in crossed electric and magnetic fields near the cathode, while the primary reason for the high-frequency oscillations is two-stream instability in the beam. The possibility of suppressing both types of oscillations by compressing relativistic electron beams near the cathode is demonstrated. The effect of nonuniform magnetic fields, including their effect on the cathode plasma motion, is elucidated.     

基于双粒子耦合的单层介质柱阵列对电磁波的调控

基于Mie散射理论和多重散射理论探讨了亚波长介质柱阵列对电磁波的调控. 研究结果表明: 当在全反射的单层介质柱阵列中引入一个空位缺陷时会产生12%的透射; 如果在入射一侧再引入一合适的介质柱时, 其透射率可增加至36%, 为空位缺陷时的3倍; 当在出射一侧对称位置处引入另一完全相同的介质柱时, 可以调制透射电磁波的模式, 虽然总的透射率没有增加,但向前散射的电磁波能量明显增强. 采用这种双粒子耦合体系, 在金属柱的表面等离激元共振频率附近也可以实现类似的效果. 这些体系结构简单、易于在实验上实现, 这对于太赫兹甚至光频段的光子集成线路中的元件设计和光束调控很有意义.     

Hybrid surface magnetoplasma oscillations in the layered semiconductor-dielectric resonator

Theoretical and numerical studies of the electromagnetic properties of the layered semiconductor-dielectric structure in the external constant magnetic field is carried out. It is shown that due to removal of frequency degeneration the intertype coupling arises and as the result two new surface oscillations with near resonance frequencies arrear, their fields are orthogonal and modulated along interface semiconductor — dielectric of the orthogonal envelopes.     

Above-threshold dynamics of acoustic domains in liquid crystals

Owing to a nonquadratic spectrum, the Landau levels in graphene in crossed magnetic and electric fields should be affected by an electric field. Oscillations of magnetization in gapped and gapless graphene in crossed magnetic and electric fields are studied. The contribution of the Coulomb interaction to these oscillations is considered.     

Orbital magnetic moment of a quantum well and a quantum dot in crossed magnetic and electric fields

A new physical effect, namely, oscillations of the orbital magnetic moment with a change in the electric field strength in two types of nanostructures, has been predicted. Explicit analytical expressions for the orbital magnetic moment of a quantum well and a quantum dot in crossed magnetic and electric fields have been derived. The oscillations of the orbital magnetic moment with a change in the electric and magnetic fields have been studied. The oscillation periods in both the electric and magnetic fields have been found and the limiting cases of the strong magnetic and quantum confinement effects have been considered.     

The Enhanced Second‐Harmonic Generation Based on Magnetic‐Lorentz‐Force Effect

Electromagnetic coupling generates a second‐harmonic signal via the magnetic component of Lorentz force of free electrons. In this work, the enhancement of artificial second‐harmonic generation (SHG) from plasmonic metamaterial with near‐field electromagnetic coupling is theoretically investigated by performing numerical simulations in both frequency and time domains. Simulation results demonstrate that a small gap between the near‐field electric dipole and magnetic resonators could increase the electromagnetic coupling and the SHG signal. In addition, the longer the near‐field electric dipole resonator, the stronger the SHG signal emits. By tuning the geometrical parameters, it has been verified that near‐field electromagnetic coupling results in enhancement of magnetic resonance, thereby improving the SHG signal by more than 3.4 times. This research paves a way toward the design of artificial nonlinearity with metamaterials.     

Magnetic plasmon propagation along a chain of connected subwavelength resonators at infrared frequencies

A one-dimensional magnetic plasmon propagating in a linear chain of single split ring resonators is proposed. The subwavelength size resonators interact mainly through exchange of conduction current, resulting in stronger coupling as compared to the corresponding magneto-inductive interaction. Finite-difference time-domain simulations in conjunction with a developed analytical theory show that efficient energy transfer with signal attenuation of less then 0.57 dB/microm and group velocity higher than 1/4c can be achieved. The proposed novel mechanism of energy transport in the nanoscale has potential applications in subwavelength transmission lines for a wide range of integrated optical devices.     

Application of the mutual-interaction method to a class of two-scatterer systems: I. Two discrete scatterers

In a recent paper we developed a formalism that fully accommodates the mutual interactions among scatterers separable by parallel planes. The total fields propagating away from these planes are the unknowns of a system of difference equations. Each scatterer is characterized by a scattering function that expresses the scattered wave amplitude as a function of the incident and scattered wavevectors for a unit-amplitude plane wave scattered from the object in isolation. This function can be derived completely from the scattered far field with the help of analytic continuation. For a two-scatterer system the mutual-interaction equations reduce to a single Fredholm integral equation of the second kind. It turns out that analytic solutions are tractable for those scattering functions that are Dirac deltas or a sum of products of separable functions of the incident and scattered wavevectors. Scattering functions for planes and isotropic scatterers, as well as electric and magnetic dipoles all possess this property and are considered. The exact scattering functions agree with results obtained by analytic continuation. This paper consists of two parts. Part I derives analytic solutions for two discrete scatterers (isotropic scatterers. electric dipoles, magnetic dipoles). Part II is devoted to scattering from an object (isotropic or dipole scatterer) near an interface separating two semi-infinite uniforn-media. Because the results in this paper are exact, the effects of near-field interactions can be assessed. The forms of the scattering solutions can be adapted to objects that are both radiating and scattering.     

Transmission properties of terahertz pulses through subwavelength double split-ring resonators

We present a terahertz time-domain spectroscopy study of the transmission properties of planar composite media made from subwavelength double split-ring resonators (SRRs). The measured amplitude transmission spectra reveal a resonance near 0.5 THz, the central frequency of most ultrafast terahertz systems, for one SRR orientation in normal-incidence geometry. This resonance is attributed to the effect of electric excitation of magnetic resonance of the SRR arrays. In addition, the influences of background substrate, lattice constant, and the shapes of the SRRs on the terahertz resonance are experimentally investigated and agree well with the results of recent numerical studies.     

Recent development and status of magnetoelectric materials and devices

The magnetoelectric (ME) materials and related devices have been attracting increasing research attention over the last few years. They exhibit strong ME coupling effect at room temperature, and electric field control of magnetization or magnetic field control of ferroelectric polarization can be achieved. The ME coupling effect brings novel functionalities to develop ultra-fast, low-power, and miniaturized electronics. Recent progress shows the performance of ME materials is further improved and the materials are used to develop many new types of electronics such as high-speed memory, radio frequency resonator, compact ME antenna, and weak magnetic field sensor. In this review, we present the overview in those fields with emphasis on both the opportunities and challenges for the application of ME materials and devices in the cutting-edge technologies.     

Application of the mutual-interaction method to a class of two-scatterer systems: I. Two discrete scatterers

Abstract

In a recent paper we developed a formalism that fully accommodates the mutual interactions among scatterers separable by parallel planes. The total fields propagating away from these planes are the unknowns of a system of difference equations. Each scatterer is characterized by a scattering function that expresses the scattered wave amplitude as a function of the incident and scattered wavevectors for a unit-amplitude plane wave scattered from the object in isolation. This function can be derived completely from the scattered far field with the help of analytic continuation. For a two-scatterer system the mutual-interaction equations reduce to a single Fredholm integral equation of the second kind. It turns out that analytic solutions are tractable for those scattering functions that are Dirac deltas or a sum of products of separable functions of the incident and scattered wavevectors. Scattering functions for planes and isotropic scatterers, as well as electric and magnetic dipoles all possess this property and are considered. The exact scattering functions agree with results obtained by analytic continuation. This paper consists of two parts. Part I derives analytic solutions for two discrete scatterers (isotropic scatterers. electric dipoles, magnetic dipoles). Part II is devoted to scattering from an object (isotropic or dipole scatterer) near an interface separating two semi-infinite uniforn-media. Because the results in this paper are exact, the effects of near-field interactions can be assessed. The forms of the scattering solutions can be adapted to objects that are both radiating and scattering.     

Coupled magnetic resonator optical waveguides

Optical resonators are important devices that control the properties of light and manipulate light–matter interaction. Various optical resonators are designed and fabricated using different techniques. For example, in coupled resonator optical waveguides, light energy is transported to other resonators through near‐field coupling. In recent years, magnetic optical resonators based on LC resonance have been realized in several metallic microstructures. Such devices possess stronger local resonance and lower radiation loss compared with electric optical resonators. This study provides an overall introduction on the latest progress in coupled magnetic resonator optical waveguide (CMROW). Various waveguides composed of different magnetic resonators are presented and Lagrangian formalism is used to describe the CMROW. Moreover, several interesting properties of CMROWs, such as abnormal dispersions and slow‐light effects, are discussed and CMROW applications in nonlinear and quantum optics are shown. Future novel nanophotonic devices can be developed using CMROWs.     

Multiferroic materials and magnetoelectric physics: symmetry,entanglement, excitation,and topology

Multiferroics are those materials with more than one ferroic order, and magnetoelectricity refers to the mutual coupling between magnetism (spins and/or magnetic field) and electricity (electric dipoles and/or electric field). In spite of the long research history in the whole twentieth century, the discipline of multiferroicity has never been so highly active as that in the first decade of the twenty-first century, and it has become one of the hottest disciplines of condensed matter physics and materials science. A series of milestones and steady progress in the past decade have enabled our understanding of multiferroic physics substantially comprehensive and profound, which is further pushing forward the research frontier of this exciting area. The availability of more multiferroic materials and improved magnetoelectric performance are approaching to make the applications within reach. While seminal review articles covering the major progress before 2010 are available, an updated review addressing the new achievements since that time becomes imperative. In this review, following a concise outline of the basic knowledge of multiferroicity and magnetoelectricity, we summarize the important research activities on multiferroics, especially magnetoelectricity and related physics in the last six years. We consider not only single-phase multiferroics but also multiferroic heterostructures. We address the physical mechanisms regarding magnetoelectric coupling so that the backbone of this divergent discipline can be highlighted. A series of issues on lattice symmetry, magnetic ordering, ferroelectricity generation, electromagnon excitations, multiferroic domain structure and domain wall dynamics, and interfacial coupling in multiferroic heterostructures, will be revisited in an updated framework of physics. In addition, several emergent phenomena and related physics, including magnetic skyrmions and generic topological structures associated with magnetoelectricity will be discussed. The review is ended with a set of prospectives and forward-looking conclusions, which may inevitably reflect the authors' biased opinions but are certainly critical.     

Vertical transport of subwavelength localized surface electromagnetic modes

Transport of subwavelength electromagnetic (EM) energy has been achieved through near‐field coupling of highly confined surface EM modes supported by plasmonic nanoparticles, in a configuration usually on a two‐dimensional (2D) substrate. Vertical transport of similar modes along the third dimension, on the other hand, can bring more flexibility in designs of functional photonic devices, but this phenomenon has not been observed in reality. In this paper, designer (or spoof) surface plasmon resonators (‘plasmonic meta‐atoms’) are stacked in the direction vertical to their individual planes in demonstrating vertical transport of subwavelength localized surface EM modes. The dispersion relation of this vertical transport is determined from coupled‐mode theory and is verified with a near‐field transmission spectrum and field mapping with a microwave near‐field scanning stage. This work extends the near‐field coupled resonator optical waveguide (CROW) theory into the vertical direction, and may find applications in novel three‐dimensional slow‐light structures, filters, and photonic circuits.

     

All-dielectric frequency selective surface design based on dielectric resonator

In this work,we propose an all-dielectric frequency selective surface(FSS) composed of periodically placed highpermittivity dielectric resonators and a three-dimensional(3D) printed supporter.Mie resonances in the dielectric resonators offer strong electric and magnetic dipoles,quadrupoles,and higher order terms.The re-radiated electric and magnetic fields by these multipoles interact with the incident fields,which leads to total reflection or total transmission in some special frequency bands.The measured results of the fabricated FSS demonstrate a stopband fractional bandwidth(FBW)of 22.2%,which is consistent with the simulated result.     

微谐振环结构体内太赫兹增强效应

基于严格电磁场理论,给出了微型谐振环形和Fishnet结构体内太赫兹波的严格表达式,并利用电磁场的边界条件分析了太赫兹波在微型谐振环形和Fishnet结构体内空间分布的增强效应。数值模拟结果表明:谐振环金属条附近的电场大于磁场,金属条附近的电场相对其他区域明显要强得多,开口处表现更为突出,太赫兹波在Fishnet结构体内电磁场的峰位处电场和磁场分布关于x对称;电场的极值出现在大十字架的上下四个角,而磁场的极值则出现在小十字架的上下两端点。同时用电磁场传输线理论对该现象作出一定的物理解释。收稿日期:; 修订日期: