Stealthy-Hyperuniform Wave Dynamics in Two-Dimensional Photonic Crystals

The question

Disorder usually scatters waves. Can spatial correlations in the disorder suppress that scattering, and where does this picture break down?

The work

This study examines photonic crystal slabs with stealthy-hyperuniform disorder: a pattern whose long-wavelength density fluctuations vanish. The widths of the photonic bands provide a way to measure scattering and identify the transition out of the stealthy regime.

The results also reveal limits to transparency. Multiple scattering remains relevant, while radiative loss gives the propagating light a complex effective mass and permits residual single scattering even within the stealthy regime.