On Dyakonov-Voigt surface waves guided by the planar interface of dissipative materials

TL;DR

This paper numerically investigates Dyakonov-Voigt surface waves at interfaces of dissipative uniaxial and isotropic dielectrics, revealing conditions for their existence, propagation characteristics, and the influence of dissipation and orientation.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed numerical analysis of DV surface waves guided by dissipative uniaxial and isotropic dielectric interfaces, highlighting the effects of dissipation and orientation on wave properties.

Findings

DV surface waves do not exist at ^\u00b0 or when both materials are nondissipative.

Dissipation significantly affects phase speeds, propagation lengths, and penetration depths.

Negative phase velocity DV surface waves occur at mid-range inclination angles.

Abstract

Dyakonov-Voigt (DV) surface waves guided by the planar interface of (i) material $A$ which is a uniaxial dielectric material specified by a relative permittivity dyadic with eigenvalues $\epsilon^s_A$ and $\epsilon^t_A$, and (ii) material $B$ which is an isotropic dielectric material with relative permittivity $\epsilon_B$, were numerically investigated by solving the corresponding canonical boundary-value problem. The two partnering materials are generally dissipative, with the optic axis of material $A$ being inclined at the angle $\chi \in [ 0^\circ, 90^\circ ]$ relative to the interface plane. No solutions of the dispersion equation for DV surface waves exist when $\chi=90^\circ$. Also, no solutions exist for $\chi \in ( 0^\circ, 90^\circ )$, when both partnering materials are nondissipative. For $\chi \in [ 0 ^\circ, 90^\circ )$, the degree of dissipation of material $A$ has a profound effect on the phase speeds, propagation lengths, and penetration depths of the DV surface waves. For mid-range values of $\chi$, DV surface waves with negative phase velocities were found. For fixed values of $\epsilon^s_A$ and $\epsilon^t_A$ in the upper-half-complex plane, DV surface-wave propagation is only possible for large values of $\chi$ when $| \epsilon_B|$ is very small.