Electromagnetic equivalent model for phase conjugate mirror based on the utilization of left-handed material

Abstract

An electromagnetic equivalent model for the phase conjugate mirror (PCM) is proposed in this paper. The model is based on the unique property of the isotropic left-handed material (LHM) - the ability of LHM to reverse the phase factors of propagative waves. We show that a PCM interface can be substituted with a LHM-RHM (right-handed material) interface and associated image sources and objects in the LHM. This equivalent model is fully equivalent in the treatment of propagative wave components. However, we note that the presence of evanescent wave components can lead to undesirably surface resonance at the LHM-RHM interface. This artefact can be kept well bounded by introducing a small refractive index mismatch between the LHM and RHM. We demonstrate the usefulness of this model by modelling several representative scenarios of light patterns interacting with a PCM. The simulations were performed by applying the equivalent model to a commercial finite element method (FEM) software. This equivalent model also points to the intriguing possibility of realizing some unique LHM based systems in the optical domain by substituting a PCM in place of a LHM-RHM interface.