Mirror-Image-Induced Magnetic Modes

Reflection in a mirror changes the handedness of the real world, and right-handed objects turn left-handed and vice versa (M. Gardner, The Ambidextrous Universe, Penguin Books, 1964). Also, we learn from electromagnetism textbooks that a flat metallic mirror transforms an electric charge into a virtual opposite charge. Consequently, the mirror image of a magnet is another parallel virtual magnet as the mirror image changes both the charge sign and the curl handedness. Here we report the dramatic modification in the optical response of a silicon nanocavity induced by the interaction with its image through a flat metallic mirror. The system of real and virtual dipoles can be interpreted as an effective magnetic dipole responsible for a strong enhancement of the cavity scattering cross section.