Slow- and fast-waves through chiral/chiral nihility slab waveguides

Abstract

The paper presents analytical investigation of the propagation of electromagnetic waves through chiral/chiral nihility slab waveguide with the emphasis on slow- and fast-waves in the guide. For this purpose, the eigenvalue equation is deduced, followed by the derivation of slow-wave propagation condition. The electromagnetic response of slow- and fast-waves is studied, taking into account a few low-order even modes. It is observed that higher chirality value strongly supports slow-wave propagation for the right-circularly polarized wave. Further, the impedance matching conditions are employed in order to study the behavior of transverse electromagnetic (TEM) modes in the guide. Conditions very close to mode-degeneracy are observed in the case of TEM mode excitation – the phenomenon which may be useful for optical applications.

Keywords:

• chiral mediums
• complex optical structures
• electromagnetic fields

Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to the Ministry of Higher Education (Malaysia) for providing financial support to the work. Also, they are thankful to the anonymous reviewer for making constructive criticisms on the content of the manuscript.