Advances in Epsilon-Near-Zero Photonics

A special issue of Photonics (ISSN 2304-6732).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2025 | Viewed by 960

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
Interests: nanophotonics; electromagnetics; epsilon-near-zero metamaterials; optical metasurfaces; silicon photonics; plasmonics; optical biosensors

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Guest Editor
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
Interests: active nano-optics/plasmonics/optical metasurfaces; zero-index linear and nonlinear optics and materials; quantum bio-photonics/imaging using nanophotonic platform; nanostructured optical fiber for advanced light manipulation; sensing/lasing; and spectroscopy; hybrid photonic-plasmonic on-chip optical nanocircuits and devices; extreme light–matter interaction

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

For nearly two decades, the field of epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) photonics, which centers on materials with near-zero refractive index or permittivity, has experienced remarkable growth. Pioneering theoretical work sparked this interest, leading to subsequent research that revealed intriguing light–matter interactions. These interactions hold the potential to revolutionize our control of light. Notable breakthroughs include tunneling and squeezing of electromagnetic energy through subwavelength channels and waveguide bends, extreme nonlinearities, high harmonic generation, photonic doping, and frequency conversions in time-varying ENZ media.

This Special Issue provides a unique platform for researchers to share their latest findings and engage in a critical dialogue on shaping the future of ENZ photonics. We seek original research articles, reviews, and perspectives that address novel ENZ material development and fabrication techniques, fundamental research on light–matter interactions within these materials, and the design and development of ENZ-based devices for applications in nonlinear and quantum optics, optical imaging and sensing, energy harvesting, and ultrafast integrated photonics.

Submissions are invited across several key areas:

  • Novel ENZ Materials: We welcome research on innovative approaches to reduce losses and achieve functionalities within ENZ materials.
  • Fundamental ENZ Interactions: Research exploring new phenomena arising from light–matter interaction at the ENZ frequency is encouraged.
  • ENZ-Based Photonic Devices: We seek demonstrations of ENZ materials’ capabilities in light manipulation, nanoscale signal processing, nonlinear and quantum photonics.

We aim to publish high-quality research that significantly progresses the theoretical foundation and practical aspects of ENZ photonics.

We look forward to receiving your submissions.

Dr. Aleksei Anopchenko
Dr. Howard (Ho Wai) Lee
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • zero-index materials
  • epsilon-near-zero
  • nanophotonics
  • plasmonics
  • nonlinear optics
  • optical metasurfaces
  • metamaterials
  • light–matter interaction
  • electromagnetics

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

11 pages, 2471 KiB  
Communication
All-Dielectric Dual-Band Anisotropic Zero-Index Materials
by Baoyin Sun, Ran Mei, Mingyan Li, Yadong Xu, Jie Luo and Youwen Liu
Photonics 2024, 11(11), 1018; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics11111018 - 29 Oct 2024
Viewed by 567
Abstract
Zero-index materials, characterized by near-zero permittivity and/or permeability, represent a distinctive class of materials that exhibit a range of novel physical phenomena and have potential for various advanced applications. However, conventional zero-index materials are often hindered by constraints such as narrow bandwidth and [...] Read more.
Zero-index materials, characterized by near-zero permittivity and/or permeability, represent a distinctive class of materials that exhibit a range of novel physical phenomena and have potential for various advanced applications. However, conventional zero-index materials are often hindered by constraints such as narrow bandwidth and significant material loss at high frequencies. Here, we numerically demonstrate a scheme for realizing low-loss all-dielectric dual-band anisotropic zero-index materials utilizing three-dimensional terahertz silicon photonic crystals. The designed silicon photonic crystal supports dual semi-Dirac cones with linear-parabolic dispersions at two distinct frequencies, functioning as an effective double-zero material along two specific propagation directions and as an impedance-mismatched single-zero material along the orthogonal direction at the two frequencies. Highly anisotropic wave transport properties arising from the unique dispersion and extreme anisotropy are further demonstrated. Our findings not only show a novel methodology for achieving low-loss zero-index materials with expanded operational frequencies but also open up promising avenues for advanced electromagnetic wave manipulation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Epsilon-Near-Zero Photonics)
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