Anderson localization of electromagnetic waves in three dimensions

Abstract: Anderson localization marks a halt of diffusive wave propagation in disordered systems. Despite extensive studies over the past 40 years, Anderson localization of light in three dimensions has remained elusive, leading to the question of its very existence. Recent orders-of-magnitude speed-up of finite-difference time-domain calculations allows us to conduct brute-force numerical simulations of light transport in fully disordered 3D systems with unprecedented dimension and refractive index contrast. We demonstrate three-dimensional localization of vector electromagnetic waves in random packings of metallic spheres, in sharp contrast to the absence of localization for dielectric spheres with a refractive index contrast up to 10. Our work opens a wide range of avenues in both fundamental research related to Anderson localization and potential applications using 3D localized light.