Stopped electromagnetic wave in an air waveguide with anisotropic metamaterial cladding

In summary, we have investigated the properties of the guided modes in a planar air waveguide with AMM cladding. It is shown that both forward and backward waves can propagate under certain conditions, differing considerably from those of a conventional dielectric waveguide. The propagating electromagnetic waves can be stopped at the critical point that the forward and backward modes degeneracy to one, as a result of the power flows in the two media totally cancel out. A linearly tapered air waveguide is introduced to bring the propagating wave to a complete standstill. This method for storing photons will lead to a multitude of hybrid, optoelectronic devices based on metamaterials to be used in ´quantum information´ processing, communication networks and signal processors.