DISPERSION AND LOSSES IN SURFACE WAVEGUIDES CONTAINING DOUBLE NEGATIVE OR CHIRAL METAMATERIALS

In this article the influence of both dispersion and losses on waveguides with metamaterials is investigated. The analysis is focused on surface waveguides (planar interfaces and grounded slabs) containing either double-negative (DNG) or chiral metamaterials. The main goal is to show how the combined effect of material dispersion and losses with the structural dispersion affect the solutions of the modal equations. It is shown that this interplay is essential to obtain a correct modal analysis of these waveguides. Namely, the overall behavior can qualitatively change - so that it is not possible to state that the corresponding lossy case - even when a very small amount of losses is introduced - can be interpreted as a small perturbation of the lossless case.