Novel electromagnetic radiation in Left-Handed materials

In this thesis, Cerenkov radiation of a moving charged particle inside a Left-Handed material (LHM) is studied through both theory and numerical simulations. A LHM is a material whose permittivity and permeability have negative real parts. In the analysis of this thesis, the general theory of Cerenkov radiation was first studied for the unbounded regions filled with LHM. The physical meanings of different Green's functions are discussed, and finally the second kind of Hankel function is determined to represent the special properties of Cerenkov radiation: forward incoming phase and backward outgoing power, which satisfies both momentum and energy conservation. The effects of the dispersion and dissipation of both permittivity and permeability are also investigated. The results show that both forward and backward radiated waves can co-exist at different frequencies. When the dissipation is reduced, the directions of forward and backward radiation are close to 900 with respect to the particle's moving direction. When the LHM is bounded, a waveguide can be formed. Depending upon the configuration and the relative dielectric constants of the surrounding normal material (we call them RHM in comparison with LHM), a surface wave can be formed.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Physics.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Lu, Jie, Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Jin Au Kong and Min Chen.

• Physics.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/39566

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/39566