Identifying Near-Perfect Tunneling in Discrete Metamaterial Loaded Waveguides

Abstract

Mu-negative and epsilon-negative loaded waveguides taken on their own are nominally cut-off. In ideal circumstances, and when paired in the correct proportions, tunneling will occur. However, due to losses and constraints imposed by finite-sized constituent elements, the ability to experimentally demonstrate tunneling may be hindered. A tunnel identification method has been developed and demonstrated to reveal tunneling behavior that is otherwise obscured. Using ABCD (voltage-current transmission) matrix formulation, the S-parameters of the mu-negative/epsilon-negative loaded waveguide junction is combined with S-parameters of an epsilon-negative loaded waveguide. The method yields symmetric scattering matrices, which allows the effect of losses to be removed to provide yet clearer identification of tunneling.

Engineering Metamaterials: Present and Future

“…In Reference [9], the authors have studied the near-perfect tunneling in discrete metamaterial loaded waveguides. Electromagnetic wave tunneling in alternating ε-negative/µ-negative anisotropic metamaterial layers is studied with an ABCD-matrix-based method.…”