Eigenstates of Maxwell’s equations are fields which can exist in a medium without a source. Such eigenstates can be defined for a homogeneous medium and for a two-constituent medium, where a physical parameter that enables their existence is the eigenvalue. Their importance is two-fold: when their eigenvalues are approached with a physical parameter there is a strong response of the system and they can be used to expand the field generated as a response to an applied field without having to account for multiple scattering. We present an approach to treat charge and current distributions analytically in eigenstate field expansions for a two-constituent composite medium and apply it to several setups of practical importance. In addition, we present the spherical analog of a plane phased array, which can be used to localize far-field light.


Seminar, March 9, 2018, 11:00. ICFO’s Blue Lecture Room

Hosted by Prof. Maciej Lewenstein