Electromagnetic Wave Tunneling from Metamaterial Antiparallel Dipole Resonance

Abstract

Metamaterial resonances have demonstrated outstanding abilities to control electromagnetic waves, which brings promises to directly use them to create unique channels for electromagnetic wave tunneling through barriers. Herein, an electromagnetic wave tunneling effect is realized by an antiparallel dipole resonance in a multilayer metamaterial composed of a pair of metallic unsplit ring resonators (USRRs) with a split ring resonator (SRR) sandwiched between them. The sandwiched SRR is known to serve as a barrier to the incident electromagnetic wave at its fundamental resonant frequency. However, with assistance of a “bypass bridge” formed by the magnetic response from the antiparallel dipole resonance excited on the pair of USRRs, the electromagnetic wave tunnels through the barrier. Through field distributions and harmonic model analysis, the universal conditions for the tunneling are found to happen in such a multilayer configuration. As long as the antiparallel dipole resonance is excited on the pair of USRRs, and thus the bypass bridge is formed, no matter what other barrier is sandwiched, the tunneling effect still occurs. Herein, the applications are for electrical wire connections in integrated circuits regarding electromagnetic compatibility, optical cloaking devices, as well as designs for both optical amplitude and phase modulators.