title: Interplay between localization and absorption in disordered waveguides.
abstract: This work presents results of ab-initio simulations of continuous wave transport in disordered absorbing waveguides. Wave interference effects cause deviations from diffusive picture of wave transport and make the diffusion coefficient position- and absorption-dependent. As a consequence, the true limit of a zero diffusion coefficient is never reached in an absorbing random medium of infinite size, instead, the diffusion coefficient saturates at some finite constant value. Transition to this absorption-limited diffusion exhibits a universality which can be captured within the framework of the self-consistent theory (SCT) of localization. The results of this work (i) justify use of SCT in analyses of experiments in localized regime, provided that absorption is not weak; (ii) open the possibility of diffusive description of wave transport in the saturation regime even when localization effects are strong.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Missouri University of Science & Technology, Rolla, MO 65409, USA. yamilov@mst.edu
authors.forename: Alexey G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Yamilov
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Payne
mesh_terms: D000042:Absorption; D003198:Computer Simulation; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004735:Energy Transfer; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D008027:Light; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*