graduate

Controlling waves at subwavelength scales in space and time through complex media

TYPECondensed Matter Seminar
Speaker:Prof. Mathias Fink
Affiliation:Institut Langevin Ecole Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris
Date:19.03.2013
Time:14:30
Location:Lidow Nathan Rosen (300)
Abstract:The origin of diffraction limit in wave physics, and the way to overcome it, can be revisited using the time-reversal mirror concept. According to time-reversal symmetry, a broadband wave can be focused both in time and space regardless of the complexity of a scattering medium. In a complex environment a time-reversal mirror acts as an antenna that uses complex environments to appear wider than it is, resulting in a refocusing quality that does not depend on the time-reversal antenna aperture. The broadband nature of time-reversed waves distinguishes them from continuous phase-conjugated waves and allows revisiting the origin of diffraction limits, suggesting new ways to obtained subwavelength focusing for broadband waves.