Optical seminar | 17 April 2020

We describe a particular class of materials, named near-zero index materials. Their peculiar electromagnetic properties, such as enlargement of the wavelength, show great potential for enhancing transmission of a signal inside photonic waveguides. Besides, their constant phase property finds great applications in the field of quantum photonics, where information generated by quantum emitters can be preserved instead of degraded by the environment, causing decoherence. However their realization still remains a challenge, as it requires very specific geometries to fulfil some requirements related to the effective medium theory.Here, we present novel possibilities and challenges of integrating such a materials with quantum emitters. We also investigate potential plasmonic materials that couldexhibit such low-index behaviour and show their experimental characterization andpossible applications. In the last part, we show a novel design and experimentalverification of a dielectric low-index material in a photonic crystal environment. Wealso explore the combination of near-zero index modes with bound states in the continuum(BIC) as a way to suppress radiative losses on-chip. Finally, we discuss theprospects of such combination and their great potential for photonic circuitry.