Liu Yongmin, Bartal Guy, Genov Dentcho A, Zhang Xiang
NSF Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSEC), 5130 Etcheverry Hall, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1740, USA.
Phys Rev Lett. 2007 Oct 12;99(15):153901. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.153901.
We present the first study of subwavelength discrete solitons in nonlinear metamaterials: nanoscaled periodic structures consisting of metal and nonlinear dielectric slabs. The solitons supported by such media result from a balance between tunneling of surface plasmon modes and nonlinear self-trapping. The dynamics in such systems, arising from the threefold interplay between periodicity, nonlinearity, and surface plasmon polaritons, is substantially different from that in conventional nonlinear dielectric waveguide arrays. We expect these phenomena to inspire fundamental studies as well as potential applications of nonlinear metamaterials, particularly in subwavelength nonlinear optics.
由金属和非线性电介质平板组成的纳米级周期性结构。此类介质所支持的孤子源于表面等离子体模式隧穿与非线性自陷之间的平衡。此类系统中的动力学源于周期性、非线性和表面等离子体激元之间的三重相互作用，与传统非线性电介质波导阵列中的动力学有很大不同。我们期望这些现象能激发对非线性超材料的基础研究以及潜在应用，特别是在亚波长非线性光学领域。
