A recently published study has taken on the hurdle of developing a reflectionless device — known as the “coherent perfect absorber” or “anti-laser” — that is capable of routing signals and maintaining information integrity.
Signal routers, which direct microwave and optical signals, are renowned for their applications in photonics and have been used for radiofrequency networks and nanophotonic devices. Nevertheless, considerable reflection and loss of signal power after injecting signals into the router results in information loss.
To analyze if it was possible to avoid reflection and to guide light into chosen output channels, the team combined a special type of controller called metasurface with a theoretical framework — also known as reflectionless scattering modes — that allows for the calculation of device designs which will not produce a reflection.
“The answer was a resounding ‘yes,’” Philipp del Hougne, a researcher at the Université de Rennes 1 and co-author of the study, told the News. “We demonstrated excellent performance in the function of separating two signals into different output ports, known as demultiplexing, with an error of one part in 10,000.”
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