Subdiffusive wave transport and weak localization transition in three-dimensional stealthy hyperuniform disordered systems

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to understand the fundamental connection between structural correlations and light localization in three-dimensional (3D) open scattering systems of finite size. We numerically investigate the transport of vector electromagnetic waves scattered by resonant electric dipoles spatially arranged in 3D space by stealthy hyperuniform disordered point patterns. Three-dimensional stealthy hyperuniform disordered systems are engineered with different structural correlation properties determined by their degree of stealthiness $\ensuremath{\chi}$. Such fine control of exotic states of amorphous matter enables the systematic design of optical media that interpolate in a tunable fashion between uncorrelated random structures and crystalline materials. By solving the electromagnetic multiple scattering problem using Green's matrix spectral method, we establish a transport phase diagram that demonstrates a distinctive transition from a diffusive to a weak localization regime beyond a critical scattering density that depends on $\ensuremath{\chi}$. The transition is characterized by studying the Thouless number and the spectral statistics of the scattering resonances. In particular, by tuning the $\ensuremath{\chi}$ parameter, we demonstrate large spectral gaps and suppressed subradiant proximity resonances, facilitating light localization. Moreover, consistently with previous studies, our results show a region of the transport phase diagram where the investigated scattering systems become transparent. Our work provides a systematic description of the transport and weak localization properties of light in stealthy hyperuniform structures and motivates the engineering of photonic systems with enhanced light-matter interactions for applications to both classical and quantum devices.