Dispersion-free pulse propagation in a negative-index material

Abstract

The possibility of controlling the spectral position of the zero group-velocity dispersion point of a negativeindex material can be exploited by varying the ratio between the electric and the magnetic plasma frequency to obtain dispersion-free propagation in spectral regions otherwise inaccessible using conventional positiveindex materials. Our predictions are confirmed by pulse propagation simulations where all the orders of the complex dispersion of the material are taken into account. © 2005 Optical Society of America.