Abstract

Metamaterials are engineered materials composed of small electrical circuits producing novel interactions with electromagnetic waves. Recently, a new class of metamaterials has been created to mimic the behavior of media displaying electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). Here we introduce a planar EIT metamaterial that creates a very large loss contrast between the dark and radiative resonators by employing a superconducting Nb film in the dark element and a normal-metal Au film in the radiative element. Below the critical temperature of Nb, the resistance contrast opens up a transparency window along with a large enhancement in group delay, enabling a significant slowdown of waves. We further demonstrate precise control of the EIT response through changes in the superfluid density. Such tunable metamaterials may be useful for telecommunication because of their large delay-bandwidth products.

Department(s)

Physics

Keywords and Phrases

Au film; Critical temperatures; Electrical circuit; Electromagnetically-induced transparency; Engineered materials; Precise control; Superconducting Nb film; Superfluid density; Tunable metamaterials; Bandwidth; Diagnostic radiography; Electromagnetic waves; Gold; Group delay; Hybrid materials; Niobium; Quantum optics; Superconductivity; Telecommunication systems; Transparency; Metamaterials

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

0031-9007

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Final Version

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2011 American Physical Society (APS), All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jul 2011

Included in

Physics Commons

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