Temporal Dispersion in Chiral Composite Materials: A Theoretical Study

Abstract

This paper focuses on the frequency dependence of the electromagnetic parameters of heterogeneous chiral materials. The material parameter of primary interest is the chirality parameter k in the constitutive relations adopted (D = ∈E- jkμ0∈0 H, B = μH + jkμ0∈0 E). A chiral Maxwell-Garnett mixing rule for spherical inclusions is used to determine the macroscopic composite chirality. To take into account the dispersion, the Condon model is used for the frequency dependence of the chiral component, which is embedded in the nonchiral background medium. All other material parameters are kept constant within this region of chiral dispersion. Illustrations show the effect of the mixing process on the characteristics of the chiral dispersion, both in the real and imaginary parts of k. It is shown that due to mixing, the chirality will become spread to a broader frequency range, and acquire more structure in the dispersion curve. These changes are naturally functions of the parameters of the mixture.