In classical and quantum systems, order is of fundamental importance to many branches of science. Still, disorder is prevalent in our natural world. It manifests in various ways, and overcoming its limitations would open up exciting applications. In this work, we numerically show that disorder-induced Anderson localization can be mitigated and transmission systematically restored in random media through a self-organization process relying on energy dissipation. Under the scattering pressure produced by a driving optical field, a colloidal suspension composed of strongly polydisperse (i.e., random size) particles spontaneously assembles a Bloch-like mode with a broad transmission band. This mode displays a deterministic transmission scaling law that overcomes the statistical exponential decay expected in random media. This work demonstrates that, through the continuous dissipation of energy, amorphous materials can collectively synchronize with a coherent drive field and assemble a crystalline order. Self-organization, thus, offers a robust approach for addressing the physical limitations of disorder and immediately opens the door to applications in slow-light engineering and the development of “bottom-up” photonic materials.
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Externally driven broadband transmission in strongly disordered materials
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7 June 2021
Research Article|
June 10 2021
Externally driven broadband transmission in strongly disordered materials
Nicolas Bachelard
;
Nicolas Bachelard
1
NSF Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center, University of California
, 94720 Berkeley, California, USA
2
Institute for Theoretical Physics, Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien)
, A-1040 Vienna, Austria
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Chad Ropp;
Chad Ropp
1
NSF Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center, University of California
, 94720 Berkeley, California, USA
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Sui Yang
;
Sui Yang
1
NSF Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center, University of California
, 94720 Berkeley, California, USA
3
Materials Science and Engineering, School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, Arizona State University
, Tempe, Arizona 85287, USA
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Xiang Zhang
Xiang Zhang
a)
1
NSF Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center, University of California
, 94720 Berkeley, California, USA
4
Faculty of Science and Faculty of Engineering, University of Hong Kong
, Hong Kong, China
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: xiang@berkeley.edu
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a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: xiang@berkeley.edu
Appl. Phys. Lett. 118, 231103 (2021)
Article history
Received:
May 04 2021
Accepted:
May 11 2021
Citation
Nicolas Bachelard, Chad Ropp, Sui Yang, Xiang Zhang; Externally driven broadband transmission in strongly disordered materials. Appl. Phys. Lett. 7 June 2021; 118 (23): 231103. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0055926
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