Antireflection coating at metamaterial waveguide structures for solar energy applications

Abstract

The optical reflection properties of a periodic metamaterial-dielectric multilayered structure are investigated theoretically. The structure is an antireflection coating if it is placed between two semi-infinite media of the same kind and the two slabs constituted each period have the same width and opposite refractive indices. Maxwell's equations are used to determine the electric and magnetic fields of the incident waves at each layer. Snell's law is applied and the boundary conditions are imposed at each layer interface to calculate the reflected and transmitted coefficients of the structure. The reflected and transmitted powers are determined using these coefficients by a recursive method. In the numerical results, the reflected powers are computed and illustrated as a function of wavelength of the incident waves, angle of incidence and number of periods with the emphasis on the appropriate refractive indices.