Scale-free optics in out-of-equilibrium ferroelectrics

by Dr Eugenio Del Re

Tuesday 17 Jan 2012, 16:00 → 18:00 Europe/Rome

Aula Conversi (Dip. di Fisica - Edificio G. Marconi)

We describe our recent experiments and theoretical models on optical propagation in disordered ferroelectrics. Results indicate a new and alternative route to overcoming the limits to diffraction and to image resolution limits. The clue to our findings lies not in linear or nonlinear compensation, but in developing a system in which light propagates without a spatial scale. In our crystals, this occurs when the underlying compositional disorder leads to the formation of an out-of-equilibrium dipolar glass, the result of an intimate interplay between non-equilibrium physics and optics. [1] E. DelRe, E. Spinozzi, A. J. Agranat, C. Conti, Scale-free optics and diffractionless waves in nanodisordered ferroelectrics, Nature Photonics 5, 3942 (2011)