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Hauptverfasser: Johns, Ben, Kempf, Hannes, Das, Lakshmi, De Andrés, Aitor, Maccaferri, Nicolò
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.03626
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author Johns, Ben
Kempf, Hannes
Das, Lakshmi
De Andrés, Aitor
Maccaferri, Nicolò
author_facet Johns, Ben
Kempf, Hannes
Das, Lakshmi
De Andrés, Aitor
Maccaferri, Nicolò
contents Near-zero-refractive index materials display unique optical properties such as perfect transmission through distorted waveguides, cloaking, and inhibited diffraction. Compared to conventional media, they can fundamentally behave differently to light impinging from air, owing to the phenomenon of total external reflection. This makes them attractive for evanescent wave phenomena without prism coupling or sub-wavelength air gaps. Here, we introduce a strategy for linear-to-circular polarization conversion based on this effect. Practically realizable device designs are presented using hybrid structures of near-zero index and high index materials in a simple planar geometry. Our results predict polarization conversion in both reflection and transmission configurations based on naturally available epsilon-near-zero materials and illustrate the role of loss in limiting performance. Although the operation wavelength is limited to the epsilon-near-zero region, the concept can be implemented from the terahertz to optical domains using tunable epsilon-near-zero materials.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2511_03626
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Polarization conversion using hybrid near-zero and high-index metamaterials
Johns, Ben
Kempf, Hannes
Das, Lakshmi
De Andrés, Aitor
Maccaferri, Nicolò
Optics
Near-zero-refractive index materials display unique optical properties such as perfect transmission through distorted waveguides, cloaking, and inhibited diffraction. Compared to conventional media, they can fundamentally behave differently to light impinging from air, owing to the phenomenon of total external reflection. This makes them attractive for evanescent wave phenomena without prism coupling or sub-wavelength air gaps. Here, we introduce a strategy for linear-to-circular polarization conversion based on this effect. Practically realizable device designs are presented using hybrid structures of near-zero index and high index materials in a simple planar geometry. Our results predict polarization conversion in both reflection and transmission configurations based on naturally available epsilon-near-zero materials and illustrate the role of loss in limiting performance. Although the operation wavelength is limited to the epsilon-near-zero region, the concept can be implemented from the terahertz to optical domains using tunable epsilon-near-zero materials.
title Polarization conversion using hybrid near-zero and high-index metamaterials
topic Optics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.03626