Emergent scattering regimes in disordered metasurfaces near critical packing.

ABSTRACT: Disordered metasurfaces provide a versatile platform for harnessing near- and far-field scattered light. Most research has focused on either particulate topologies composed of individual, well-identified metaatoms or, to a lesser extent, semi-continuous aggregate topologies without well identified inclusions. Here, we uncover an intermediate 'critical packing' regime characterized by metasurface morphologies in which a significant fraction of metaatoms begin to connect. We experimentally demonstrate that, at this threshold, the properties of the scattered light abruptly change and, via a statistical quasinormal mode analysis, interpret this change as a marked transition in the statistics of the photon density of states. Unlike percolation in semicontinuous metal films, this transition affe

SUBMITTER: Chen M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12705732 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature