Application of the differential method to uniaxial gratings with an infinite number of refraction channels: Scalar case

• Published in: Optics communications Vol. 258; no. 2; pp. 90 - 96
• Main Authors: Depine, Ricardo A., Inchaussandague, Marina E., Lakhtakia, Akhlesh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 15.02.2006; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Anisotropy; Diffraction; Edge and boundary effects; reflection and refraction; Elliptic dispersion equation; Exact sciences and technology; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Grating; Gratings; Hyperbolic dispersion equation; Negative refraction; Optical elements, devices, and systems; Optics; Physics; Wave optics; Hyperbolic dispersion equation; Diffraction; Grating; Elliptic dispersion equation; Negative refraction; Anisotropy; Optical diffraction; Dielectric materials; Dispersion relations; Refractive index; Hyperbolic equations; Theoretical study; Diffraction gratings; Polarized light; Optical arrays; Uniaxial medium; Elliptic equations; Plane waves; Linear polarization; Boundary-value problems; Differential method
• ISSN: 0030-4018; 1873-0310
• DOI: 10.1016/j.optcom.2005.07.067

The differential method (also called the C method) is applied to the diffraction of linearly polarized plane waves at a periodically corrugated boundary between vacuum and a linear, homogeneous, uniaxial, dielectric–magnetic medium characterized by hyperbolic dispersion equations. Numerical results for sinusoidal gratings are presented and compared with those obtained by means of the Rayleigh method, showing that both the differential method and the Rayleigh method can fail to give adequate results for gratings supporting an infinite number of refracted Floquet harmonics.