Multipole approach in electrodynamics of metamaterials

Abstract

Metamaterials are artificial media that allow tailoring the macroscopic properties of light propagation by a careful choice of nanoplasmonic inclusions it is made of. A simple and versatile analytical model describing propagation of electro magnetic waves in metamaterials is suggested. The model is based on the secondary averaging procedure in full analogy with the ordinary one accepted for Maxwell equations, where the nanoplasmonic inclusions (typically referred to as metaatoms or metamolecules) are considered similarly to natural atoms or molecules. The model turns out to be beneficial improvement in the theoretical description of metamaterials since it contributes to the physical understanding of optical phenomena in metamaterials and provides good quantitative correspondence with the results of rigorous numerical methods, and is able to predict new effects.