Scattering of electromagnetic waves by cylinder inside uniaxial hyperbolic medium

Abstract

We study the scattering of plane waves by a cylinder inside a uniaxial hyperbolic medium and show a unique scattering behavior which is quite different from scattering inside an isotropic dielectric medium. The polarization is preserved during the scattering i.e. the scattered waves have the same polarization as the incident wave for all incident angles. The scattering of TM waves is highly anisotropic and can be tuned from the Rayleigh regime, to the resonant regime, to the evanescent regime by simply changing the angle of incidence. In the resonant regime, we also see sharp Fano resonance features even for low index cylinders. Finally, a magnetic cylinder is shown to exhibit a highly angular selective scattering. All these effects can be explained from the unique properties of the uniaxial hyperbolic medium and illustrate the opportunity to tailor the scattering properties by controlling the environment.