Propagation of electromagnetic fields in bulk terahertz metamaterials: A combined experimental and theoretical study

Abstract

The availability of novel technologies that enable the fabrication of bulk metamaterials made it necessary to develop a theoretical language to discuss their properties appropriately. Here we use the fundamental Bloch mode approximation to explore bulk properties of metamaterials that operate at terahertz frequencies. We demonstrate that this approximation is valid in the case of terahertz meta-foil metamaterials. While relying on theoretical and experimental results, we show that the fundamental Bloch mode approximation can explain minuscule details that are unique to the bulk metamaterial. Various applications such as cylindrical lenses, terahertz cloaks, and sensors will benefit from our analysis. © 2013 American Physical Society.