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On the basis of the formalism of the Boltzmann kinetic equation for the distribution function of the conduction electrons, the photonic band structure of binary dielectric-metal superlattice is theoretically studied. Using the constitutive nonlocal relation between the electrical current density and the electric field inside the metallic layer, the dispersion equation for photonic eigenmodes in the periodic stack is analytically expressed in terms of the surface impedances at the interfaces of the metal and dielectric layers. In the case of very thin metallic layers, the optic spectrum for the superlattice exhibits narrow pass bands as a result of the strong contrast between the impedances of the dielectric and the metal. The narrow pass bands are attributed to Fabry-Perot resonances in the relatively-thick dielectric layer. The metal nonlocality is well pronounced in the infrared and, therefore, the nonlocal effect upon the photonic band structure of the superlattice can be strong when the Fabry-Perot resonance bands are in that frequency range. Our results for the photonic spectrum have been compared with those obtained within the local Drude-Lorentz model. Noticeably differences not only in the the magnitude, but also in the sign of the real part of the Bloch wave number in the Fabry-Perot resonance bands, have been found.

Scattering of TM-polarized surface plasmon-polariton waves (PPW) by a finite segment of the metal–vacuum interface with randomly fluctuating surface impedance is examined. Solution of the integral equation relating the scattered field with the field of the incident PPW, valid for arbitrary scattering intensity and arbitrary dissipative characteristics of the conductive medium, is analyzed. As a measure of the PPW scattering, the Hilbert norm of the integral scattering operator is used. The strength of the scattering is shown to be determined not only by the parameters of the fluctuating impedance (dispersion, correlation radius and the length of the inhomogeneity region) but also by the conductivity of the metal. If the scattering operator norm is small, the PPW is mainly scattered into the vacuum, thus losing its energy through the excitation of quasi-isotropic bulk Norton waves above the conducting surface. The scattered field intensity is expressed in terms of the random impedance pair-correlation function. Its dependence on the incident and scattered wavenumbers shows that in the case of random-impedance-induced scattering of PPW it is possible to observe the effect analogous to Wood's anomalies on gratings. Under strong scattering, when the norm of the scattering operator becomes large compared to unity, the radiation into free space is strongly suppressed, and, in the limit, the incoming PPW is almost perfectly back-reflected from the inhomogeneous part of the interface. Therefore, within the model of a dissipation-free conducting medium, the surface polariton is unstable against arbitrary small fluctuations of the medium polarizability. Transition from scattering to back-reflection under strong fluctuations of the impedance is interpreted in terms of the Anderson localization.

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We discuss the propagation of electromagnetic waves through a one-dimensional periodic array of bilayers with metal inclusions. We show that the nonlocality of metal conductivity leads to the emergence of the fundamental collisionless Landau damping. It cannot be neglected, not only when prevailing over ordinary collision damping, but even when these two kinds of electromagnetic absorption are of the same order. Landau damping always exists and considerably alters the photonic transmission of the array within the THz and near-infrared frequency range.