Physical limits in electromagnetism

Pengning Chao; Benjamin Strekha; Rodrick Kuate Defo; Sean Molesky; Alejandro W. Rodriguez

doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-022-00468-w

Physical limits in electromagnetism

Pengning Chao, Benjamin Strekha, Rodrick Kuate Defo, Sean Molesky, Alejandro W. Rodriguez

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Princeton University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

Abstract

Photonic devices play an increasingly important role in advancing physics and engineering. Although improvements in nanofabrication and computational methods have driven progress in expanding the range of achievable optical characteristics, they have also greatly increased design complexity. These developments motivate the study of fundamental limits on optical response. Here we review recent progress in our understanding of these limits with special focus on an emerging theoretical framework that combines computational optimization with conservation laws to yield physical limits capturing all relevant wave effects. Results pertaining to canonical electromagnetic problems such as thermal emission, scattering cross-sections, Purcell enhancement and power routing are presented. Finally, we identify areas where further research is needed, including conceptual extensions and efficient numerical schemes for handling large-scale problems.

Original language	American English
Pages (from-to)	543-559
Number of pages	17
Journal	Nature Reviews Physics
Volume	4
Issue number	8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-022-00468-w
State	Published - Aug 2022

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Physics and Astronomy(all)

Access to Document

https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-022-00468-w

Cite this

@article{eb2d467d3ffc4d639aaf6606539d954e,

title = "Physical limits in electromagnetism",

abstract = "Photonic devices play an increasingly important role in advancing physics and engineering. Although improvements in nanofabrication and computational methods have driven progress in expanding the range of achievable optical characteristics, they have also greatly increased design complexity. These developments motivate the study of fundamental limits on optical response. Here we review recent progress in our understanding of these limits with special focus on an emerging theoretical framework that combines computational optimization with conservation laws to yield physical limits capturing all relevant wave effects. Results pertaining to canonical electromagnetic problems such as thermal emission, scattering cross-sections, Purcell enhancement and power routing are presented. Finally, we identify areas where further research is needed, including conceptual extensions and efficient numerical schemes for handling large-scale problems.",

author = "Pengning Chao and Benjamin Strekha and {Kuate Defo}, Rodrick and Sean Molesky and Rodriguez, {Alejandro W.}",

note = "Funding Information: The authors acknowledge support from the National Science Foundation under the Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) programme, grant no. EFMA-1640986, the Cornell Center for Materials Research (MRSEC) through award no. DMR-1719875, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) under grant agreements no. HR00112090011, no. HR00111820046 and no. HR0011047197. R.K.D. acknowledges financial support from the Princeton Presidential Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022, Springer Nature Limited.",

year = "2022",

month = aug,

doi = "https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-022-00468-w",

language = "American English",

volume = "4",

pages = "543--559",

journal = "Nature Reviews Physics",

issn = "2522-5820",

publisher = "Springer Nature Switzerland AG",

number = "8",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Physical limits in electromagnetism

AU - Chao, Pengning

AU - Strekha, Benjamin

AU - Kuate Defo, Rodrick

AU - Molesky, Sean

AU - Rodriguez, Alejandro W.

N1 - Funding Information: The authors acknowledge support from the National Science Foundation under the Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) programme, grant no. EFMA-1640986, the Cornell Center for Materials Research (MRSEC) through award no. DMR-1719875, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) under grant agreements no. HR00112090011, no. HR00111820046 and no. HR0011047197. R.K.D. acknowledges financial support from the Princeton Presidential Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. Publisher Copyright: © 2022, Springer Nature Limited.

PY - 2022/8

Y1 - 2022/8

N2 - Photonic devices play an increasingly important role in advancing physics and engineering. Although improvements in nanofabrication and computational methods have driven progress in expanding the range of achievable optical characteristics, they have also greatly increased design complexity. These developments motivate the study of fundamental limits on optical response. Here we review recent progress in our understanding of these limits with special focus on an emerging theoretical framework that combines computational optimization with conservation laws to yield physical limits capturing all relevant wave effects. Results pertaining to canonical electromagnetic problems such as thermal emission, scattering cross-sections, Purcell enhancement and power routing are presented. Finally, we identify areas where further research is needed, including conceptual extensions and efficient numerical schemes for handling large-scale problems.

AB - Photonic devices play an increasingly important role in advancing physics and engineering. Although improvements in nanofabrication and computational methods have driven progress in expanding the range of achievable optical characteristics, they have also greatly increased design complexity. These developments motivate the study of fundamental limits on optical response. Here we review recent progress in our understanding of these limits with special focus on an emerging theoretical framework that combines computational optimization with conservation laws to yield physical limits capturing all relevant wave effects. Results pertaining to canonical electromagnetic problems such as thermal emission, scattering cross-sections, Purcell enhancement and power routing are presented. Finally, we identify areas where further research is needed, including conceptual extensions and efficient numerical schemes for handling large-scale problems.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85133247885&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85133247885&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-022-00468-w

DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-022-00468-w

M3 - Review article

SN - 2522-5820

VL - 4

SP - 543

EP - 559

JO - Nature Reviews Physics

JF - Nature Reviews Physics

IS - 8

ER -

Physical limits in electromagnetism

Abstract

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this