Simulation study of localization of electromagnetic waves in two-dimensional random dipolar systems

Abstract

We study the propagation and scattering of electromagnetic waves by random arrays of dipolar cylinders in a uniform medium. A set of self-consistent equations, incorporating all orders of multiple scattering of the electromagnetic waves, is derived from first principles and then solved numerically for electromagnetic fields. For certain ranges of frequencies, spatially localized electromagnetic waves appear in such a simple but realistic disordered system. Dependence of localization on the frequency, radiation damping, and filling factor is shown. The spatial behavior of the total, coherent and diffusive waves is explored in detailed, and found to be comply with a physical intuitive picture. A phase diagram characterizing localization is presented, in agreement with previous investigations on other systems.

Photon Localization and Electromagnetic Field Enhancement in Laser-Irradiated, Random Porous Media

“…Recently, however, it has been found that as the particle size decreases to the order of the laser wavelength, the diffusion breaks down and the transmission coefficient decays exponentially with the medium thickness, due to the constructive interference among the multiply scattered waves [5,6]. This phenomenon, termed "photon localization," is the counterpart of electron localization suggested by Anderson [7] and has been investigated theoretically and experimentally in one- [8][9][10][11][12][13], two- [14][15][16][17][18][19][20], and three- [21][22][23][24] dimensional structures. With the onset of localization, the electromagnetic (EM) waves may not propagate through, but are confined in a finite spatial region, forming a "random resonator."…”