Meta-material photonic funnels for sub-diffraction light compression and propagation

Abstract

We present waveguides with photonic crystal cores, supporting energy propagation in subwavelength regions with a mode structure similar to that in telecom fibers. We design meta-materials for near-, mid-, and far-IR frequencies, and demonstrate efficient energy transfer to and from regions smaller than 1/25-th of the wavelength. Both positive- and negative-refractive index light transmissions are shown. Our approach, although demonstrated here in circular waveguides for some specific frequencies, is easily scalable from optical to IR to THz frequency ranges, and can be realized in a variety of waveguide geometries. Our design may be used for ultra high-density energy focusing, nm-resolution sensing, near-field microscopy, and high-speed all-optical computing.