Omnidirectionally Bending to the Normal in epsilon-near-Zero Metamaterials

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that electromagnetic waves can be bent towards the normal in epsilon-near-zero metamaterials, contrary to traditional expectations, enabling new ways to redirect light without lenses.

Contribution

It reveals a novel phenomenon where light bends towards the normal in epsilon-near-zero metamaterials, challenging conventional Snell's law and expanding potential applications.

Findings

Electromagnetic power bends towards the normal in epsilon-near-zero metamaterials.

The transmitted beam remains close to normal for all incident angles.

Potential for improved optical communication and energy delivery systems.

Abstract

Contrary to conventional wisdom that light bends away from the normal at the interface when it passes from high to low refractive index media, here we demonstrate an exotic phenomenon that the direction of electromagnetic power bends towards the normal when light is incident from arbitrary high refractive index medium to \epsilon-near-zero metamaterial. Moreover, the direction of the transmitted beam is close to the normal for all angles of incidence. In other words, the electromagnetic power coming from different directions in air or arbitrary high refractive index medium can be redirected to the direction almost parallel to the normal upon entering the \epsilon-near-zero metamaterial. This phenomenon is counterintuitive to the behavior described by conventional Snell's law and resulted from the interplay between \epsilon-near-zero and material loss. This property has potential applications in communications to increase acceptance angle and energy delivery without using optical lenses and mechanical gimbals.