Nonlinear photonics of backward waves

Several nonlinear-optical coupling schemes in double domain positive/negative index metamaterials are proposed, which include ordinary and backward electromagnetic waves. One of them is investigated in the context of the applications to compensating strong losses inherent to plasmonic metamaterials and to design of novel ultracompact photonic devices for optical sensing and data processing. Each of the schemes provides different distribution of the coupled fields (hot zones) across the originally strongly absorbing metamaterial slab and exotic output behavior compared with the counterparts in ordinary materials. The outlined possibilities are illustrated with the numerical simulations.