Simultaneous amplification and attenuation in isotropic chiral materials

Abstract

The electromagnetic field phasors in an isotropic chiral material (ICM) are superpositions of two Beltrami fields of different handedness. Application of the Bruggeman homogenization formalism to two-component composite materials delivers ICMs wherein Beltrami fields of one handedness attenuate whereas Beltrami fields of the other handedness amplify. One component material is a dissipative ICM, the other an active dielectric material. The range of the volume fraction of the active component material for which simultaneous amplification and attenuation is exhibited decreases - but does not vanish - as the ICM component becomes more dissipative and as its chirality parameter reduces in magnitude.