Extreme localization of rare events on photonic chips

Extreme localization of waves, either spatial or temporal, has been the subject of great interest in science. Research in metamaterials and plasmonics provides an opportunity to achieve strong electromagnetic confinement into sub-wavelength volumes [1], achieved by the use of complex fabrication processes, sophisticated experimental apparatus and/or elaborate wavefront reshaping techniques. On the other hand, extreme localization of energy naturally arises in rare events such as hurricanes, rogue waves, tornado and tsunami with probabilistic character. If these events can be brought to a controlled environment, their unique properties can be harnessed for an extreme spatio-temporal localization of light. Among different rare phenomena, rogue waves appear very interesting for this problem. Rogue waves are isolated events in wave motion that are characterized by the appearance of localized waveforms with exceptional amplitude, which appear at once and disappear in a probabilistic fashion [2].