Competition between structural and intrinsic dispersion in delay through a left handed medium

TL;DR

This paper investigates how negative index materials influence delay times in layered structures, emphasizing the importance of dispersion and absorption effects for designing compact delay devices.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of resonant tunneling delays in layered media with negative index materials, highlighting the role of dispersion and absorption.

Findings

Large transmission delays mediated by surface and guided modes.

Including NIM dispersion is crucial for accurate delay assessment.

NIM absorption impacts the feasibility of compact delay devices.

Abstract

We study resonant tunneling through a layered medium with a negative index medium (NIM) slab as a constituent layer. We demonstrate large delays in transmission mediated by the surface and the guided modes of the structure with low losses. We show how important it is to include NIM dispersion for correct assessment of the nature and magnitude of the delay. We also point out the role of NIM absorption for the feasibility of such compact delay devices.