Electromagnetic Wave Tunneling from Metamaterial Antiparallel Dipole Resonance

Abstract

Metamaterial resonances have demonstrated outstanding abilities to control electromagnetic waves, which brings promises to directly employ them to create unique channels for electromagnetic wave tunneling through barriers. In this work, we report an electromagnetic wave tunneling effect realized by an anti‐parallel dipole resonance in a multilayer metamaterial composed of a pair of metallic un‐split ring resonators (USRRs) with a split ring resonator (SRR) sandwiched between them. The sandwiched SRR is known to serve as a barrier to the incident electromagnetic wave at its fundamental resonant frequency. However, with assistance of a 'bypass bridge' formed by the magnetic response from the anti‐parallel dipole resonance excited on the pair of USRRs, the electromagnetic wave tunnels through the barrier. Through field distributions and harmonic model analysis, we have found the universal conditions for the tunneling to happen in such a multilayer configuration. As long as the anti‐parallel dipole resonance is excited on the pair of USRRs, and thus the bypass bridge is formed, no matter what other barrier is sandwiched, the tunneling effect still occurs. This work has applications for electrical wire connections in integrated circuits regarding electromagnetic compatibility, optical cloaking devices, as well as designs for both optical amplitude and phase modulators.