Broadband surface-wave transformation cloak

Guiding surface electromagnetic waves around disorder without disturbing the wave amplitude or phase is in great demand for modern photonic and plasmonic devices, but is fundamentally difficult to realize because light momentum must be conserved in a scattering event. A partial realization has been achieved by exploiting topological electromagnetic surface states, but this approach is limited to narrow-band light transmission and subject to phase disturbances in the presence of disorder. Recent advances in transformation optics apply principles of general relativity to curve the space for light, allowing one to match the momentum and phase of light around any disorder as if that disorder were not there. This feature has been exploited in the development of invisibility cloaks. An ideal invisibility cloak, however, would require the phase velocity of light being guided around the cloaked object to exceed the vacuum speed of light—a feat potentially achievable only over an extremely narrow band. In this work, we theoretically and experimentally show that the bottlenecks encountered in previous studies can be overcome. We introduce a class of cloaks capable of remarkable broadband surface electromagnetic waves guidance around ultrasharp corners and bumps with no perceptible changes in amplitude and phase. These cloaks consist of specifically designed nonmagnetic metamaterials and achieve nearly ideal transmission efficiency over a broadband frequency range from 0+ to 6 GHz. This work provides strong support for the application of transformation optics to plasmonic circuits and could pave the way toward high-performance, large-scale integrated photonic circuits.National Natural Science Foundation (China) (Grant 61322501)National Natural Science Foundation (China) (Grant 61275183)National Top-Notch Young Professionals Program (Grant FANEDDC-200950)Program for New Century Excellent Talents (NCET-12-0489)Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant FRFCU-2014XZZX003-24)Nanyang Assistant Professorship Start-Up GrantSingapore. Ministry of Education (Grant Tier 1 RG27/12)Singapore. Ministry of Education (Grant MOE2011-T3-1-005)Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (Contract W911NF-13-D-0001)United States. Dept. of Energy (Solid-State Solar-Thermal Energy Conversion Center Grant de-sc0001299

Spin Momentum–Locked Surface States in Metamaterials without Topological Transition

The photonic analogy of the quantum spin Hall Effect, that is, a photonic topological insulator (PTI), is of great relevance to science and technology in optics based on the promise of scattering‐free surface states. The challenges in realizing such scattering‐free surface states in PTIs and other types of symmetry‐protected topological phases are the result of the exact symmetry needed for creating a pair of time reversal pseudo‐spin states or special boundary conditions, wherein the exact symmetry imposes strict requirements on materials or boundary conditions. Here, it is experimentally demonstrated that scattering‐free edge states can be created with neither the aforementioned exact symmetry requirements for materials nor the topological transitions. This system is constructed by simply placing together regular homogeneous metamaterials, which are characterized by highly different bianisotropies. Of the particular surface states, backward reflection would be deeply suppressed, provided that the related evanescent tail into the bulk regions vanishes shortly and that the pseudo‐spin is not flipped by the scatterers. This work gives an example of constructing scattering‐free surface states in classical systems without strict symmetry protections and may potentially stimulate various novel applications in the future

A meta-substrate to enhance the bandwidth of metamaterials

We propose the concept of a meta-substrate to broaden the bandwidth of left-handed metamaterials. The meta-substrate, which behaves like an inhomogeneous magnetic substrate, is composed of another kind of magnetic metamaterials like metallic closed rings. When conventional metamaterial rings are printed on this kind of meta-substrate in a proper way, the interaction of the metamaterials units can be greatly enhanced, yielding an increased bandwidth of negative permeability. An equivalent circuit analytical model is used to quantitatively characterize this phenomenon. Both numerical and experimental demonstrations are carried out, showing good agreement with theoretical predictions

New insight into the phylogeographic pattern of Liriodendron chinense (Magnoliaceae) revealed by chloroplast DNA: east–west lineage split and genetic mixture within western subtropical China

Background Subtropical China is a global center of biodiversity and one of the most important refugia worldwide. Mountains play an important role in conserving the genetic resources of species. Liriodendron chinense is a Tertiary relict tree largely endemic to subtropical China. In this study, we aimed to achieve a better understanding of the phylogeographical pattern of L. chinense and to explore the role of mountains in the conservation of L. chinense genetic resources. Methods Three chloroplast regions (psbJ-petA, rpl32-ndhF, and trnK5’-matK) were sequenced in 40 populations of L. chinense for phylogeographical analyses. Relationships among chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) haplotypes were determined using median-joining networks, and genetic structure was examined by spatial analysis of molecular variance (SAMOVA). The ancestral area of the species was reconstructed using the Bayesian binary Markov Chain Monte Carlo (BBM) method according to its geographic distribution and a maximum parsimony (MP) tree based on Bayesian methods. Results Obvious phylogeographic structure was found in L. chinense. SAMOVA revealed seven groups matching the major landscape features of the L. chinense distribution area. The haplotype network showed three clades distributed in the eastern, southwestern, and northwestern regions. Separate northern and southern refugia were found in the Wu Mountains and Yungui Plateau, with genetic admixture in the Dalou Mountains and Wuling Mountains. BBM revealed a more ancient origin of L. chinense in the eastern region, with a west–east split most likely having occurred during the Mindel glacial stage. Discussion The clear geographical distributions of haplotypes suggested multiple mountainous refugia of L. chinense. The east–west lineage split was most likely a process of gradual genetic isolation and allopatric lineage divergence when the Nanling corridor was frequently occupied by evergreen or coniferous forest during Late Quaternary oscillations. Hotspots of haplotype diversity in the Dalou Mountains and Wuling Mountains likely benefited from gene flow from the Wu Mountains and Yungui Plateau. Collectively, these results indicate that mountain regions should be the main units for conserving and collecting genetic resources of L. chinense and other similar species in subtropical China

Experimental demonstration of a free space cylindrical cloak without superluminal propagation

We experimentally demonstrated an alternative approach of invisibility cloaking that can combine technical advantages of all current major cloaking strategies in a unified manner and thus can solve bottlenecks of individual strategies. A broadband cylindrical invisibility cloak in free space is designed based on scattering cancellation (the approach of previous plasmonic cloaking), and implemented with anisotropic metamaterials (a fundamental property of singular-transformation cloaks). Particularly, non-superluminal propagation of electromagnetic waves, a superior advantage of non-Euclidian-transformation cloaks constructed with complex branch cuts, is inherited in this design, and thus is the reason of its relatively broad bandwidth. This demonstration provides the possibility for future practical implementation of cloaking devices at large scales in free space.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures, accepted by Physical Review Letter

The Design and Life Test of a Multifunction Power Amplifier for Space Application

A new multifunction power amplifier (MFPA) is designed and fabricated for the application of point-to-point K-Band backhaul TR module. A DC temperature life test was performed to model the up-limit temperature effect of the designed MFPA under space application. After 240 hours of 100°C life test, the test results illustrate that the designed MFPA has only slight power degradation at the saturation region without change of the linear gain. The general performance of the designed MFPA satisfies the requirement of the application scenario

A New Digital to Analog Converter Based on Low-Offset Bandgap Reference

This paper presents a new 12-bit digital to analog converter (DAC) circuit based on a low-offset bandgap reference (BGR) circuit with two cascade transistor structure and two self-contained feedback low-offset operational amplifiers to reduce the effects of offset operational amplifier voltage effect on the reference voltage, PMOS current-mirror mismatch, and its channel modulation. A Start-Up circuit with self-bias current architecture and multipoint voltage monitoring is employed to keep the BGR circuit working properly. Finally, a dual-resistor ladder DAC-Core circuit is used to generate an accuracy DAC output signal to the buffer operational amplifier. The proposed circuit was fabricated in CSMC 0.5 μm 5 V 1P4M process. The measured differential nonlinearity (DNL) of the output voltages is less than 0.45 LSB and integral nonlinearity (INL) less than 1.5 LSB at room temperature, consuming only 3.5 mW from a 5 V supply voltage. The DNL and INL at −55°C and 125°C are presented as well together with the discussion of possibility of improving the DNL and INL accuracy in future design

Electromagnetic time-harmonic and static field polygonal rotator with homogeneous materials

AbstractWe propose a scheme of designing polygonal rotator with homogenous materials by using linear coordinate transformation. Our strategy is available for both time-harmonic electromagnetic field case and static field case. In particular, we found that only one anisotropic material is needed in static field case, and the density of field in the central region can be altered to be denser or sparser, or stay the same. The magnetostatic field rotator can be realized by multilayered structure composed of ferromagnetic materials and superconductor, and the direct current rotator can be realized by metals with different conductivity. Numerical results verify the effectiveness of our strategy in both time-harmonic field case and static field case.</jats:p

A 5&ndash;18 GHz Four-Channel Multifunction Chip Using 3D Heterogeneous Integration of GaAs pHEMT and Si-CMOS

Compact, broadband, multi-channel RF chips with low loss and high integration are required for high-performance phased-array systems. Presented in this paper is a four-channel, multifunction RF chip operating in the 5&ndash;18 GHz frequency range that integrates broadband phase shifting, amplitude control, power amplification, and switching functions. The chip is designed to have flip-chip bonding and stacked gold bumps to enable the compact 3D integration of the GaAs pHEMT and Si-CMOS. To ensure high-density interconnects with minimal parasitic effects, a fan-in redistribution process is implemented. The RF front-end part of this chip, fabricated through a 0.15 &micro;m GaAs pHEMT process, integrates 6-bit digital phase shifters, 6-bit digital attenuators, low-noise amplifiers (LNAs), power amplifiers (PAs), and single-pole double-throw (SPDT) switches. To enhance multi-channel isolation and reduce crosstalk between RF chips and digital circuits, high isolation techniques, including a ground-coupled shield layer in the fan-in process and on-chip shield cavities, are utilized, which achieve isolation levels greater than 41 dB between adjacent RF channels. The measurement results demonstrate a reception gain of 0 dB with &plusmn;0.6 dB flatness, an NF below 11 dB, and transmit gain of more than 10 dB, with a VSWR of below 1.6 over the entire 5&ndash;18 GHz frequency band. The 6-bit phase shifter achieves a root mean square (RMS) phase error below 2.5&deg; with an amplitude variation of less than 0.8 dB, while the 6-bit attenuator exhibits an RMS attenuation error of below 0.5 dB and a phase variation of less than 7&deg;. The RF and digital chips are heterogeneously integrated using flip-chip and fan-in technology, resulting in a compact chip size of 6.2 &times; 6.2 &times; 0.33 mm3. These results validate that this is a compact, high-performance solution for advanced phased-array radar applications