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Chiral Metamaterials with PT Symmetry and Beyond
Sotiris Droulias1,2, Ioannis Katsantonis1,2, Maria Kafesaki1,2
1Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas, 71110 Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
Abstract:
Optical systems with gain and loss that respect parity-time (PT) symmetry can have real eigenvalues despite their non-Hermitian character. Chiral systems impose circularly polarized waves which do not preserve their handedness under the combined space- and time-reversal operations and, as a result, seem to be incompatible with systems possessing PT symmetry. Nevertheless, in this work we show that in certain configurations, PT symmetric permittivity, permeability, and chirality is possible; in addition, real eigenvalues are maintained even if the chirality goes well beyond PT symmetry. By obtaining all three constitutive parameters in realistic chiral metamaterials through simulations and retrieval, we show that the chirality can be tailored independently of permittivity and permeability; thus, in such systems, a wide control of new optical properties including advanced polarization control is achieved.
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