Emergence of an Epsilon-Near-Zero Medium from Microscopic Atomic Principles

Ruks, Lewis and Ruostekoski, Janne (2025) Emergence of an Epsilon-Near-Zero Medium from Microscopic Atomic Principles. Physical review letters, 135 (23): 233603. ISSN 1079-7114

Abstract

We demonstrate that an effective near-zero refractive index can emerge from collective light scattering in a discrete atomic lattice, using essentially exact microscopic simulations. In a 25-layer array, cooperative response leads to over a thirtyfold increase in the effective optical wavelength within the medium, almost eliminating optical phase accumulation, with potential applications in spectroscopy and optical manipulation of quantum emitters. Crucially, the near-zero refractive index arises from first-principles microscopic theory, rather than being imposed through continuous phenomenological effective-medium models—providing conceptually important insight into the emergence of macroscopic electromagnetism from atomic-scale interactions.