Homogenization of plasmonic crystals: Seeking the epsilon-near-zero behavior.

Citation:

Maier M, M.Mattheakis, Kaxiras E, Luskin M, Margetis D. Homogenization of plasmonic crystals: Seeking the epsilon-near-zero behavior. Proceedings of the Royal Society A. 2019;475 (2230).

Abstract:

By using an asymptotic analysis and numerical simulations, we derive and investigate a system of homogenized Maxwell{\textquoteright}s equations for conducting material sheets that are periodically arranged and embedded in a heterogeneous and anisotropic dielectric host.\  This structure is motivated by the need to design plasmonic crystals that enable the propagation of electromagnetic waves with no phase delay (epsilon-near-zero effect). Our microscopic model incorporates the surface conductivity of the two-dimensional (2D) material of each sheet and a corresponding line charge density through a line conductivity along possible edges of the sheets. Our analysis generalizes averaging principles inherent in previous Bloch-wave approaches. We investigate physical implications of our findings. In particular, we emphasize the role of the vector-valued corrector field, which expresses microscopic modes of surface waves on the 2D material. By using a Drude model for the surface conductivity of the sheet, we construct a Lorentzian function that describes the effective dielectric permittivity tensor of the plasmonic crystal as a function of frequency.

Publisher's Version

Last updated on 11/29/2019