Resonant tunneling of a wave through a structure that contains a layer with a negative refractive index

Abstract

We have investigated the transmission ability of a layered structure the central layer of which is made of a “left-handed” material (its refractive index is negative) and is separated by two air slabs from a “right-handed” dielectric medium that surrounds the structure. We consider tunneling of energy fluxes through the structure and determine conditions for the complete (reflectionless) transmission of the power of the incident wave through it. We show that this effect is resonant and is observed when the tangential component of the wave vector of the incident wave coincides with the longitudinal wave vector of one of waveguiding eigenmodes of the left-handed layer.