Slow light in the GaAs-rod-loaded metallic waveguide for terahertz wave

The modes in a circular metallic waveguide loaded with a high permittivity dielectric rod may possess similar dispersion relations to the modes in the left-handed metamaterial (LHM) waveguide. Therefore such dielectric-loaded metallic waveguide may also support slow light with parameters properly selected. The slow light in the GaAs-rod-loaded metallic waveguide is numerically studied. The results show that the wavelength of slow light varies with the parameters of the waveguide. A linearly tapered waveguide and other realizable simple structures are proposed accordingly to realize the "trapped rainbow" phenomena. Moreover, the practical lossy tapered waveguide is also investigated in the terahertz region. It is shown that the slow light with low loss can be achieved in a realistic GaAs-loaded metallic waveguide.