Engineering photonic density of states using metamaterials

The photonic density of states (PDOS), like its electronic counterpart, is one of the key physical quantities governing a variety of phenomena and hence PDOS manipulation is the route to new photonic devices. The PDOS is conventionally altered by exploiting the resonance within a device such as a microcavity or a bandgap structure like a photonic crystal.

Here we show that nanostructured metamaterials with hyperbolic dispersion can dramatically enhance the photonic density of states paving the way for metamaterial-based PDOS engineering.