Transmission spectra of one-dimensional photonic crystals including negative-refractive-index media

Abstract

We introduce a new model of one-dimensional (1D) photonic crystal composed of alternately arranged RHM and LHM layers with positive and negative refractive indices respectively, for which the transmission spectra of the model are calculated numerically with the transfer matrix method, and the bandgap structure and the polarization properties are analyzed. We found that the introduction of negative refractive index layers (i.e. LHM medium layers) gives rise to some peculiar band—gap structure and polarization properties as follows. Firstly, the forbidden bands are extremely wide and the transmission bands are very sharp without oscillation; and secondly, the change of incident angle has different influences on the forbidden bands of TE and TM modes. For the TM mode, the forbidden band width decreases substantially and finally vanishes, and for the TE mode with central wavelength, the total reflection happens at any incident angle.