Hyperbolic metamaterials - Zubin Jacob

In 1987, the search for a medium that expels vacuum fluctuations in a prescribed bandwidth and rigorously forbids spontaneous emission led to the concept of the photonic crystal. Here, we argue that the search for the opposite effect: enhancing vacuum and thermal fluctuations inside a medium within a prescribed bandwidth can be accomplished by an artificial medium known as a hyperbolic metamaterial. We will present the fluctuational electrodynamics of such media with hyperbolic dispersion and show that they exhibit broadband super-planckian thermal emission in the near-field. We will also present the quantum nanophotonics of hyperbolic media where the enhanced vacuum fluctuations within the medium leads to a broadband Purcell effect. Finally, we will present associated effects such as optical topological transitions which make it viable to experimentally detect the signatures of these predicted effects.
* Snacks and drinks are provided by University of Calgary Nanotechnology Group.