Giant omnidirectional radiation enhancement via radially anisotropic zero-index metamaterial

We demonstrate a remarkable enhancement of isotropic radiation via radially anisotropic zero-index metamaterial (RAZIM). The radiation power can be enhanced by an order of magnitude when a line source and a dielectric particle is enclosed by a RAZIM shell. Based on the extended Mie theory, we illustrate that the basic physics of this isotropic radiation enhancement lies in the confinement of higher order anisotropic modes by the RAZIM shell. The confinement results in some high field regions within the RAZIM shell and thus enables strong scattering from the dielectric particle therein, giving rise to a giant amplification of isotropic radiation out of the system. The influence of the loss inherent in the RAZIM shell is also examined. It is found that the attenuation of omnidirectional power enhancement due to the loss in the RAZIM can be compensated by gain particles. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America