We study the guided modes in the wire medium slab taking into account both the nonlocality and losses in the structure. We show that due to the fact that the wire medium is an extremeley spatially dispersive metamaterial, the effect of nonlocality plays a critical role since it results in coupling between the otherwise orthogonal guided modes. We observe both the effects of strong and weak coupling, depending on the level of losses in the system.
An experimental investigation of sub-wavelength imaging by a wire medium slab is performed. A complex-shaped near field source is used in order to test imaging performance of the device. It is demonstrated that the ultimate bandwidth of operation of the constructed imaging device is 4.5% that coincides with theoretical predictions [Phys. Rev. E 73, 056607 (2006)]. Within this band the wire medium slab is capable of transmitting images with lambda/15 resolution irrespectively of the shape and complexity of the source. Actual bandwidth of operation for particular near-field sources can be larger than the ultimate value but it strongly depends on the configuration of the source.
There is today a growing need to accurately model the angular scattering response of metasurfaces for optical analog processing applications. However, the current metasurface modeling techniques are not well suited for such a task since they are limited to small angular spectrum transformations, as shall be demonstrated. The goal of this work is to overcome this limitation by improving the modeling accuracy of these techniques and, specifically, to provide a better description of the angular response of metasurfaces. This is achieved by extending the current methods, which are restricted to dipolar responses and weak spatially dispersive effects, so as to include quadrupolar responses and higher-order spatially dispersive components. The accuracy of the newly derived multipolar model is demonstrated by predicting the angular scattering of a dielectric metasurface. This results in a modeling accuracy that is at least two times better than the standard dipolar model.
The resonant-state expansion (RSE), a rigorous perturbative method developed in electrodynamics for non-dispersive optical systems is applied to media with an Ohms law dispersion, in which the frequency dependent part of the permittivity scales inversely with the frequency, corresponding to a frequency-independent conductivity. This dispersion has only a single pole at zero frequency, which is already present in the non-dispersive RSE, allowing to maintain not only the linearity of the eigenvalue problem of the RSE but also its size. Media which can be described by this dispersion over the relevant frequency range, such as optical glass or doped semiconductors, can be treated in the RSE without additional complexity. Results are presented using analytically solvable homogeneous spheres, for doped silicon and BK7 glass, both for a perturbation of the system going from non-dispersive to dispersive media and the reverse, from dispersive to non-dispersive media.
The properties of the natural modes in a dispersive stratified N-layer medium are investigated. The focus is on the (over)completeness properties of these modes. Also the distribution of the natural frequencies is considered. Both the degree of (over)completeness and the natural frequency distribution turn out to be totally different from what is known for the non-dispersive case.
Non-uniform metasurfaces (electrically thin composite layers) can be used for shaping refracted and reflected electromagnetic waves. However, known design approaches based on the generalized refraction and reflection laws do not allow realization of perfectly performing devices: there are always some parasitic reflections into undesired directions. In this paper we introduce and discuss a general approach to the synthesis of metasurfaces for full control of transmitted and reflected plane waves and show that perfect performance can be realized. The method is based on the use of an equivalent impedance matrix model which connects the tangential field components at the two sides on the metasurface. With this approach we are able to understand what physical properties of the metasurface are needed in order to perfectly realize the desired response. Furthermore, we determine the required polarizabilities of the metasurface unit cells and discuss suitable cell structures. It appears that only spatially dispersive metasurfaces allow realization of perfect refraction and reflection of incident plane waves into arbitrary directions. In particular, ideal refraction is possible only if the metasurface is bianisotropic (weak spatial dispersion), and ideal reflection without polarization transformation requires spatial dispersion with a specific, strongly non-local response to the fields.