Refraction in Media with a Negative Refractive Index

2002/10/16 by S. Foteinopoulou, Stavroula Foteinopoulou, E. N. Economou +2 · 5 citations
Engineering · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Antenna and Metasurface Technologies #Metamaterials and Metasurfaces Applications #Photonic Crystals and Applications #cond-mat

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.90.107402

published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 107402 (2003). · 5 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett

arxiv created 2002/10/16 · openalex publication_date 2003/03/13 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

We show that an electromagnetic (EM) wave undergoes negative refraction at the interface between a positive and negative refractive index material, the latter being a properly chosen photonic crystal. Finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations are used to study the time evolution of an EM wave as it hits the interface. The wave is trapped temporarily at the interface, reorganizes, and, after a long time, the wave front moves eventually in the negative direction. This particular example shows how causality and speed of light are not violated in spite of the negative refraction always present in a negative index material.

Citations

• THE ELECTRODYNAMICS OF SUBSTANCES WITH SIMULTANEOUSLY NEGATIVE VALUES OF ε AND μ
• Determination of Effective Permittivity and Permeability of Metamaterials from Reflection and Transmission Coefficients

Cited by

• Negative Refraction in Perspective
• Negative refraction of a three-dimensional metallic photonic crystal
• Improved superlensing in two-dimensional photonic crystals with a basis
• Nonmagnetic nanocomposites for optical and infrared negative-refractive-index media
• All-Dielectric Rod-Type Metamaterials at Optical Frequencies