Left-Handed Surface Waves in a Photonic Structure

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that a photonic structure made of two dielectric materials with opposite permittivities can support left-handed surface waves, including surface phonons and plasmons, with potential applications in photonics.

Contribution

It introduces a novel photonic structure supporting left-handed surface waves using isotropic media with positive and negative permittivities, expanding the understanding of surface wave phenomena.

Findings

Supports surface phonons and plasmons at dielectric interfaces

Uses silicon carbide and free-electron gas as negative epsilon materials

Shows feasibility of left-handed surface wave propagation in such structures

Abstract

It is demonstrated that an isotropic left-handed medium can be constructed as a photonic structure consisting of two dielectric materials, one with positive and another with negative dielectric permittivities epsilon. Electromagnetic waves supported by this structure are the surface waves localized at the dielectric interfaces. These surface waves can be either surface phonons or surface plasmons. Two examples of negative epsilon materials are used: silicon carbide and free-electron gas.