From photonic crystals to metamaterials: physical insights and engineering aspects

This paper presents conceptual studies of photonic band-gap (PBG) crystals and metamaterials. It is highlighted that the band-gap phenomenon of PBG structures is coming from the periodicity of structure, while a metamaterial can be effectively accomplished using the electric and magnetic dipole moments, where the periodicity may not be a big factor. An advanced FDTD analysis is applied to comprehensively obtain a physical insight of metamaterials. The results are integrated into the design of a novel high-performance all-dielectric metamaterial. An all-dielectric metamaterial is free of conduction loss and can provide a relatively wideband material performance by increasing the couplings between the inclusions. Engineering challenges and practical issues are addressed.