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Shaping Light in Backward-Wave Nonlinear Hyperbolic MetamaterialsDOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics5020008 Keywords: optical metamaterials, fundamental concepts in photonics, light–matter interactions at the subwavelength and nanoscale, fundamental understanding of linear and nonlinear optical processes in novel metamaterials underpinning photonic devices and components, advancing the frontier of nanophotonics with the associated nanoscience and nanotechnology, nanostructures that can serve as building blocks for nano-optical systems, use of nanotechnology in photonics, nonlinear nanophotonics, plasmonics and excitonics, subwavelength components and negative index materials, slowing, store, and processing light pulses, materials for optical sensing, for tunable optical delay lines, for optical buffers, for high extinction optical switches, for novel image processing hardware, and for highly-efficient wavelength converters Abstract: Abstract Backward electromagnetic waves are extraordinary waves with contra-directed phase velocity and energy flux. Unusual properties of the coherent nonlinear optical coupling of the phase-matched ordinary and backward electromagnetic waves with contra-directed energy fluxes are described that enable greatly-enhanced frequency and propagation direction conversion, parametrical amplification, as well as control of shape of the light pulses. Extraordinary transient processes that emerge in such metamaterials in pulsed regimes are described. The results of the numerical simulation of particular plasmonic metamaterials with hyperbolic dispersion are presented, which prove the possibility to match phases of such coupled guided ordinary and backward electromagnetic waves. Particular properties of the outlined processes in the proposed metamaterial are demonstrated through numerical simulations. Potential applications include ultra-miniature amplifiers, frequency changing reflectors, modulators, pulse shapers, and remotely actuated sensors. View Full-Tex
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