Localization of light: a new optics, paving the way for new photonics tools

• Grant number: 22/02525-2
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Visiting Researcher Grant - Brazil
• Start date: July 06, 2022
• End date: October 05, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Condensed Matter Physics
• Principal Investigator: Niklaus Ursus Wetter
• Grantee: Niklaus Ursus Wetter
• Visiting researcher: Ernesto Jimenez Villar
• Visiting researcher institution: Universidade Federal da Paraíba (UFPB). Centro de Ciências Exatas e da Natureza (CCEN), Brazil
• Host Institution: Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares (IPEN). Secretaria de Desenvolvimento Econômico (São Paulo - Estado). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In recent years, there has been dramatic progress in the photonics field in disordered optical media, ranging from applications in solar energy, random lasers and other novel photonic functions, to investigations into fundamental topics, such as localization of light. Localization and a wide variety of associated phenomena have greatly attracted the attention of researchers in the past few decades because localization of light is an open research frontier which, besides being a fundamental topic, also could present significant, advanced applications.During the last five years, we have been studying the localization of light (in 3D) in a colloidal system composed by core-shell TiO2@Silica nano particles (NPs) suspended in ethanol. In a previous work, we proposed that the correlation in the scatterers' position due to the long-range interaction (Coulomb) might favor significantly photon interference (localization), which would explain the anomalous transport of light observed in our core-shell TiO2@Silica nanoparticles (NPs) suspension in ethanol, even for 3