All-angle reflectionless negative refraction with ideal photonic Weyl metamaterials

Area of Science:

• Photonics
• Metamaterials
• Topological Photonics

Background:

• Negative refraction is an optical phenomenon with applications in imaging and cloaking.
• Metamaterials enable negative refraction but face challenges with all-angle operation and perfect transmission.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a topological metamaterial for achieving reflectionless negative refraction at all incident angles.
• To overcome limitations of existing negative index media.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing topological photonics and metamaterials with two Weyl points.
• Interfacing the metamaterial with perfect electric conductors (PEC) and perfect magnetic conductors (PMC).

Main Results:

• Demonstrated all-angle negative refraction without reflection at the boundary.
• Topological protection ensures no reflection at the interface between PEC and PMC areas.
• Achieved a half-circle Fermi arc with positive or negative refractive index.

Conclusions:

• The proposed topological metamaterial offers a new platform for manipulating surface wave propagation.
• Potential applications in integrated photonic devices.
• Overcomes key challenges in realizing practical negative refraction.