Electromagnetic stress at the boundary : Photon pressure or tension?

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review

31 Scopus Citations
View graph of relations

Author(s)

Detail(s)

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere1501485
Journal / PublicationScience Advances
Volume2
Issue number3
Online published11 Mar 2016
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2016
Externally publishedYes

Link(s)

Abstract

It is well known that incident photons carrying momentum k exert a positive photon pressure. But if light is impinging from a negative refractive medium in which k is directed toward the source of radiation, should light exert a photon "tension" instead of a photon pressure? Using an ab initio method that takes the underlying microstructure of a material into account, we find that when an electromagnetic wave propagates from one material into another, the electromagnetic stress at the boundary is, in fact, indeterminate if only the macroscopic parameters are specified. Light can either pull or push the boundary, depending not only on the macroscopic parameters but also on the microscopic lattice structure of the polarizable units that constitute the medium. Within the context of an effective-medium approach, the lattice effect is attributed to electrostriction and magnetostriction, which can be accounted for by the Helmholtz stress tensor if we use the macroscopic fields to calculate the boundary optical stress.

Research Area(s)

  • effective medium, electromagnetic stress, metamaterial, negative-refractive-index material, optical pulling force, Photon pressure

Citation Format(s)

Electromagnetic stress at the boundary: Photon pressure or tension? / Wang, Shubo; Ng, Jack; Xiao, Meng et al.
In: Science Advances, Vol. 2, No. 3, e1501485, 03.2016.

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review

Download Statistics

No data available