Characterizing Metasurfaces/Metafilms: The Connection Between Surface Susceptibilities and Effective Material Properties

Published

December 31, 2011

Author(s)

Christopher L. Holloway, Edward Kuester, Andrew M. Dienstfrey

Abstract

A metafilm is a type of metasurface---a two-dimensional equivalent of a metamaterial, and is essentially a surface distribution of electrically small scatterers arranged in a judiciously chosen pattern. In previous work, we have shown that the most appropriate way characterize a metafilm is by its effective electric and magnetic surface susceptibilities, and we discussed methods for retrieving these surface susceptibilities. Nevertheless, researchers have continued to characterize metasurfaces in terms of bulk effective material properties. In this paper, we first clarify sign conventions (and nomenclature) used for surface susceptibilities, and correct sign errors from previous publications. We then discuss the connection between the surface susceptibilities of a metafilm and effective material properties of a thin material slab. The two subtle but important aspects discussed here are (1) the interpretation of a thin material slab by its surface susceptibilities, and (2) the equating of a metafilm (which has its own unique surface susceptibilities) to a thin material slab with effective material properties.

Citation

IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters

Volume

10

Pub Type

Journals

Keywords

Effective properties, generalized sheet transition condition (GSTC), metafilm, metamaterials, metasurface, surface susceptibility.

Citation

Holloway, C. , Kuester, E. and Dienstfrey, A. (2011), Characterizing Metasurfaces/Metafilms: The Connection Between Surface Susceptibilities and Effective Material Properties, IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters (Accessed April 25, 2024)