Excitation of surface electromagnetic waves at an anisotropically conducting vacuum-metamaterial interface by the attenuated total internal reflection method

Abstract

The excitation of well-localized oblique surface waves above the surface of a dielectric with a one-dimensional array of perfectly conducting wires is studied theoretically using the attenuated total internal reflection method. It is assumed that the distance between the wires and their diameter are much smaller than the surface wavelength. The frequencies of excited surface waves are much lower than the plasma frequency of the metal, and their electric field is orthogonal to the wires. It is shown that such surface waves can be excited with the help of a homogeneous TM wave as well as with the help of a homogeneous wave with an electric field polarized perpendicularly to the wires. It is found that in the course of excitation of oblique waves, the incident TM wave is partly polarized into a wave of the TE type.