Effect of negative permittivity and permeability on the transmission of electromagnetic waves through a structure containing left-handed material

Abstract

We investigate the characteristics of electromagnetic wave reflection and transmission by multilayered structures consisting of a pair of left-handed material (LHM) and dielectric slabs inserted between two semi-infinite dielectric media. The theoretical aspect is based on Maxwell's equations and matching the boundary conditions for the electric and magnetic fields of the incident waves at each layer interface. We calculate the reflected and transmitted powers of the multilayered structure taking into account the widths of the slabs and the frequency dependence of permittivity and permeability of the LHM. The obtained results satisfy the law of conservation of energy. We show that if the semi-infinite dielectric media have the same refractive index and the slabs have the same width, then the reflected (and transmitted) powers can be minimized (and maximized) and the powers-frequency curves show no ripple. On the other hand if the semi-infinite dielectric media have different values of refractive indices and the slabs have different widths, then under certain conditions the situation of minimum and maximum values of the mentioned powers will be reversed.