Electromagnetic surface states in structured perfect-conductor surfaces

TL;DR

This paper investigates surface-bound electromagnetic modes in structured perfect-conductor surfaces, revealing their complex behavior and limitations of local material descriptions, and introduces new metamaterials with unique optical properties.

Contribution

It provides an analytical and numerical study of surface states in drilled perfect-conductor surfaces, highlighting their nonlocal behavior and proposing new metamaterials with novel optical features.

Findings

Surface-bound modes are studied using analytical and numerical methods.

Local permittivity and permeability models are insufficient for small periods.

New metamaterials exhibit unique optical properties.

Abstract

Surface-bound modes in metamaterials forged by drilling periodic hole arrays in perfect-conductor surfaces are investigated by means of both analytical techniques and rigorous numerical solution of Maxwell's equations. It is shown that these metamaterials cannot be described in general by local, frequency-dependent permittivities and permeabilities for small periods compared to the wavelength, except in certain limiting cases that are discussed in detail. New related metamaterials are shown to exhibit exciting optical properties that are elucidated in the light of our simple analytical approach.