IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering

PAPER • OPEN ACCESS You may also like

- A voxel-based investigation for MRI-only
Guided Modes in Slab Waveguide with Central radiotherapy of the brain using ultra short
echo times
Anisotropic Metamaterial Layer Jens M Edmund, Hans M Kjer, Koen Van
Leemput et al.

- Quasi-phase matching of high-order

To cite this article: Hawraa H. Salman and Hassan A. Yasser 2020 IOP Conf. Ser.: Mater. Sci. Eng. harmonics in modulated slab waveguide
928 072127 Peng Gu, Shi-Bing Liu and Hai-Ying Song

- Highly efficient second harmonic

generation of thin film lithium niobate
nanograting near bound states in the
continuum
View the article online for updates and enhancements. Zhijin Huang, Mengjia Wang, Yang Li et al.

This content was downloaded from IP address [Link] on 22/05/2023 at 06:17

2nd International Scientific Conference of Al-Ayen University (ISCAU-2020) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 928 (2020) 072127 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/928/7/072127

Guided Modes in Slab Waveguide with Central Anisotropic

Metamaterial Layer

Hawraa H. Salman(1), Hassan A. Yasser(2)

(1) Physics Department, Science College, Thi_Qar University, hm2944953@[Link]

(2)Physics Department, Science College, Thi_Qar University, Iraq
hassan903phy@[Link]

Abstract
This work studies the characteristics of TE modes in a three layers slab waveguide
that contains an anisotropic metamaterial as a central layer. The results show that all
modes except TE1 achieved forward propagation and then turned backwards. The
effective refractive index value at which the propagation type is reversed increases with
the mode order and the thickness of the middle layer. In addition, an anisotropic property
in the metamaterial layer shift the modes curves (exept TE1 ) to left or right with respect
to the isotropic case. Furthermore, the mode TE1 is abnormal and inconsistent with the
behavior of other modes. Except TE1 mode, the confinement factor is small in the
forward propagation region and reaches large values in the backward propagation region.

Keywords: slab waveguide, metamaterial, guided modes.

1. Introduction
An optical waveguide is a physical structure to guide the electromagnetic waves in the
optical spectrum. Anisotropic materials have recently been taken in consideration in integrated
optics because they play an important role in applications such as: mode converters, modulators,
isolators and circulators [1,2]. The existence of anisotropic dielectrics in operation of devices
depends on the properties of the electromagnetic waves guided by the structure. These waves
appear as characteristic solution of the boundary value problem for anisotropic multilayer slab
waveguide. Then the problem of the wave modes in these guides have also been investigated for
several specific structures as the basic concept for the applications [3,4].
A set of different integrated optical waveguides are used to reserve and guide light on a
plate. A slab waveguide is the most basic optical waveguide. The structure is regular in the x-
direction. Light is guided inside the core region by total internal reflection at the core-cladding

Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution
of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd 1
2nd International Scientific Conference of Al-Ayen University (ISCAU-2020) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 928 (2020) 072127 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/928/7/072127

interfaces [5]. The most actual waveguides are irregular and infinite in the x-direction, but they
can be approximated as slab waveguides when the aspect ratio of the one dimension waveguide
is much larger than the other dimensions, then the modes, the corresponding wave vectors and
effective indices can be approximated by those corresponding slab waveguides [6]. The effective
refractive index, neff , is a key parameter of a guided propagation, just as the refractive index is

in unguided wave travel. A better description of the guided light is in terms of the optical modes.
The slab waveguide supports two different kinds of propagating modes: TE (transverse electric)
mode, and TM (transverse magnetic) mode [7].
This work have addressed the dispersion relations of the three layers slab waveguide,
which contains metamaterials with arbitrary permittivity and permeability tensors in terms of
matrix formulation. In addition, the effective refractive index and the power flux for this
structure have been deduced. The difference between the dispersion and power expressions of
TE and TM modes have been represented only by replacing the permeability parameter into
permittivity parameter. That is; the expressions of TE modes and TM modes will differ with
slight amount. Therefore, there is no need to display the results by conducting two types. Thus,
this current study have presented the TE modes only.

2. Model Design and Theoretical Managements

Normal-metamaterial-normal (NMN) slab waveguide has been used to study a
characteristic of dispersion. The central anisotropic metamaterial layer is located in the region of
0  x  h , where the thickness of the metamaterial layer is h . The electric permittivity and
magnetic permeability tensors are defined as [8]
 2 x 0 0   2 x 0 0 
 2   0 2y 0 ,
 2   0 2 y 0  (1)
 0 0  2 z   0 0 2 z 

where 2x  2 y and 2 x  2 y . The upper and lower layers (cover and substrate) are made

from normal dielectric slabs, where the cover layer (  3 , 3 ) in the region x  h and the substrate

layer ( 1 , 1 ) in the region x  0 . Fig.(1) illustrates the configuration of this model.

The electric and magnetic fields of TE modes propagating along the z-axis with angular
frequency w and wavenumber  z can be expressed as [9]

0 Hx 
E   E y  ei (  z z  wt ) , H   0  ei (  z z  wt ) (2)
 0   H z 

2
2nd International Scientific Conference of Al-Ayen University (ISCAU-2020) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 928 (2020) 072127 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/928/7/072127

A homogenous medium is one for when  ,  ,  are constants through the medium, where  is
the conductivity. The medium is isotropic when  ,  are scalar constants, so that the
electric/magnetic field and the displacement/magnetic intensity vectors have the same direction
everywhere. The anisotropic medium has tensors nature,  ,  , so that the electric/magnetic field
and the displacement/magnetic intensity vectors have different directions [10].

Fig.(1): the core is an anisotropic metamaterial and

the cover and substrate are normal dielectric materials.

For anisotropic and isotropic media, the electric wave equations are, respectively [8]
 2 E2 y   
  ko2 2 y 2 z  2 z  z2  E2 y =0 (3a)
x 2
 2 x 
 2 E jy
  ko2 j  j   z2  E jy =0 j  1,3 (3b)
x 2
where  z  ko neff is the propagation constant along the longitudinal direction, neff is the modal

index of the propagation mode and ko2  w2 o o . We suppose the metamaterial medium will be
anisotropic but the normal medium will be isotropic. Also, we assume the layers of normal
media are different. So that, the waveguide is asymmetric. In order to model the present
waveguides, Eqs.(3) must be solved to construct the fields in the different layers for TE modes,
the solutions in the three-layers are given by
E3 y  Ae k3 ( x h ) , xh (4a)
E2 y  Beik2 x  Ceik2 x , 0 xh (4b)
E1 y  Dek1x , 0x (4c)

where
z 2
k2  ko2 y  z   z , ki   z2  ko2 i i i  1,3 (5)
x

3
2nd International Scientific Conference of Al-Ayen University (ISCAU-2020) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 928 (2020) 072127 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/928/7/072127

The parameters k1 , k2 , k3 represent the propagation constants in the x-direction for the three-

layers. The A , B ,C , D represent the amplitudes of the waves in the different layers which will
be determined in the next analyses.
Using the relation H z  i / (wo z )Ey / x [8], the magnetic field components H z can

calculate to get
ik3
H3z  Ae k3 ( x h ) , xh isotopic (6a)
wo 3

k2
H2z  ( Beik2 x  Ceik2 x ) , 0  x  h anisotopic (6b)
wo 2 z
ik1
H1 z   Dek1x , x0 isotopic (6c)
wo 1

Matching the components of the tangential and normal magnetic fields at x  0 and x  h in
Eqs.(4) and (6), yields
A  eik2 h B  e  ik2 hC =0 (7a)
k k
A  i 2 3 eik2 h B  i 2 3 e ik2 hC =0 (7b)
k3  2 z k3 2 z
BC  D  0 (7c)
k k
i 2 1 B i 2 1 C  D  0 (7d)
k12 z k12 z

The linear system of the A, B, C , D in Eqs.(7) has a nontrivial solution only when the
determinant of the coefficients is zero
k  k  
k2 h  tan 1  1 2 z   tan 1  3 2 z   n n  0,1, 2,.... (8)
 k2 1   k2 3 
This equation is called the dispersion equation of TE modes for asymmetric slab waveguide,
where the central anisotropic metamaterial is sandwiched between different two normal isotropic
mediums. For symmetric waveguide, where k1  k3 and 1  3 , Eq.(8) will be
k 
k2 h  2 tan 1  1 2 z   n n  0,1, 2,.... (9)
 k2 1 
Depending on Eq.(8), the solutions of Eqs.(7) will be substituted into (4), yields
 k 
E3 y   cos k2 h  1 2 z sin k2 h  e k3 ( x h ) , xh (10a)
 k2 1 
k
E2 y  cos k2 x  1 2 z sin k2 x , 0xh (10b)
k2 1
E1 y  ek1x , 0x (10c)

4
2nd International Scientific Conference of Al-Ayen University (ISCAU-2020) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 928 (2020) 072127 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/928/7/072127

Using Eqs.(10), the electric power in the individual layers will be

z 0 z
P1TE  
2w1 
| E1 y |2 dx
4wk11
 (11a)

  k22 12  k12 22z  

z h z  sin  2k2 h   
P2TE  
2w2 z 0
| E2 y |2 dx  2 2 
8w2 z k2 1 
k2  (11b)

 2(k2 1  k1 2 z )h  4k12 z 1 sin (k2 h) 
2 2 2 2 2

2
z  z  k12 z 
P   | E3 y |2 dx   cos k2 h 
TE
sin k2 h  (11c)
2w3 h 4wk3 3  k2 1
3

It is important to note that, the electric powers in the layers 1 and 3 will stay positive for all
operation parameters. Thus, the powers are in the positive direction of z-axis. On the other hand,
the power at the central layers (anisotropic metamaterials) depends on the operation parameters,
which may be in the positive or negative direction of z-axis.

3. Some Waveguide Metrics

The purpose of deriving the associated dispersion equation with each waveguide for
different modes is to obtain the relationship between neff and frequency. In the slab waveguides,

TE and TM modes are only available and there is no hybrid modes. In general, the type of modes
depends on k 2 , when k 2 is real, the modes are called guided modes. However, when k 2 is
imaginary, the modes are called surface modes.
This study is only focusing to study the guided modes as long as they determine the
properties of the waveguide that are used in many applications. Therefore, only the range of neff

that makes k 2 real for the suggested models will be discussed. Determining the range of neff that

makes k 2 is real, depends on the coefficients of permittivity and permeability of all layers of the

slab waveguide. The wide range of neff that makes k 2 is real refers to the flexibility of achieving

better advantages in waveguide and vice versa. Returning to the Eqs.(5), it is necessary to fulfill

the condition  2 y 2 x  neff   i i to obtain a real k2 and the guided modes, otherwise k2

will be imaginary and the surface modes will show as in Fig.(2). If k2  i is imaginary, where
 is a real parameter, then Eq.(8) will be
 k12 z k3 2 z 
    
 h  tanh  
1 1 3
 (12)
k  k 
 1 1 2z 3 2z 
 1 3 

5
2nd International Scientific Conference of Al-Ayen University (ISCAU-2020) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 928 (2020) 072127 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/928/7/072127

The dispersion equation in this case is completely different than the formula in Eq.(8).
Therefore, the expected behavior of surface modes are completely different than the guided
modes.
The electric permittivity and magnetic permeability to the Drude concept, in the
absence of losses, are known by the following formulas [11]
w2pe w2pm
  1 ,   1 (13)
w2 w2
where wpe and wpm are the plasma frequencies of the electric and magnetic fields, and w is the

frequency of light. The values of wpe  2 1010 Hz and wpm  0.8wpe are of the order of

magnitude as the ones used in [12]. The permittivity and permeability in the isotropic medium,
such as silica, are changed slightly with the frequency, so they will be constants. These values
are chosen to verify the appearance of the guiding modes. The anisotropic medium is
metamaterials, so  and  must be calculated using Eq.(13). The Drude formula is used due to
a significant changing of permittivity and permeability with frequency. Typically, when
w  10GHz , the 2 x and 2 z were 3947 and 2526 , respectively, while when w  15GHz ,

the 2 x and 2 z were 1.6713 and 0.7096 , respectively. To achieve the anisotropic property,

2 x is multiplied by a number in the range of (0.99-1.01).

Fig.(2): the guiding modes are in the limits | n2 | neff  n1,3 .

In previous researches, it is customary to deal with several metrics and parameters to

describe the waveguide such as: normalized frequency, power flux, and others. In this section,
some of these metrics will be presented in the results. The normalized frequency (or cut-off
frequency) is defined as [9]

V  ko h n22  n12 (14)

6
2nd International Scientific Conference of Al-Ayen University (ISCAU-2020) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 928 (2020) 072127 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/928/7/072127

which increases with frequency. This parameter is very important for determining the cutoff
frequency accompanying for each mode. It also indicates the forward and backward propagation
locations. The total normalized power flux carried by each mode in the z-direction takes the
form [13]
P1TE  P2TE  P3TE
P (15)
| P1TE |  | P2TE |  | P3TE |

When P  0 , the net total power flow of the guided mode is antiparallel direction of phase flow
and this wave is called backward wave. Once can obtain the opposite result when P  0 and

this wave is called the forward wave. While at P  0 , the wave is stopped.
The confinement factor  in the core layer represents the ratio of power in the central
region of the waveguide to the total power in the waveguide. That is [14]
h 
   | E y |2 dx |E y |2 dx (16)
0 

Just confinement factor is not enough to evaluate the usefulness of particular waveguide
geometry. In addition to having a large  , it is also important to have high power density in the
region of interest [15].

4. Results and Discussion

Drawing the dispersion relation of modes is the most important step in the calculations,
as the mode information is used to calculate other features such as power, confinement factor,
and etc. The dispersion relation is plotted with the numerical solution of Eq.(8), and the
accuracy of the solution depends on the frequency and the effective refractive index separators.
The Eq.(8) does not have a numerical solution at a n  0 and accordingly, the waveguide does
not support the fundamental modes in the presence of metamaterial.
Fig.(3a) represents the permittivity, permeability, and refractive index as functions of
frequency. Both permittivity and permeability are negative within the chosen frequency range
and there is a slight difference between  x and  z in order to achieve the anisotropic property.
Since this study will focus on TE modes, there is no need to mention to the rest of components
of permittivity and permeability tensors. Accordingly, the refractive index of metamaterial layer
will be negative n2  0 and unequal in all directions. The effective refractive index achieves the

characteristic nlow  neff  nhigh , where nlow  n1 or n3 and nhigh | n2 | . Fig.(3b) shows this range,

and it turns out that it is a very wide range that may reach 5000 at the beginning of the frequency
range. Therefore, the controlling of propagation of light is very flexible.

7
2nd International Scientific Conference of Al-Ayen University (ISCAU-2020) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 928 (2020) 072127 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/928/7/072127

Fig.(4) represents neff as a function of the mode order, which is a linear relationship of

all h values. Each line within the figure divides the region into two parts, the bottom represents
the forward propagation and the top represents the backward propagation. Note that, increasing
of the value of h will decrease the region of forward propagation and increases the backward
propagation region. This is physically acceptable as long as the increase in the h means an
increase in the thickness of the negative metamaterial region and thus an increased chance of
backward propagation. This figure means determining the value of neff for each h, in which the

propagation is reversed from front forward to backward. This value of neff increases by

increasing mode order.

(b)
(a)

Fig.(3): a) permittivity and permeability and b) refractive index as functions of frequency.

Fig.(4): critical effective refractive index as a function

of mode order for different thickness of the central layer.

8
2nd International Scientific Conference of Al-Ayen University (ISCAU-2020) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 928 (2020) 072127 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/928/7/072127

Figs.(5) and (6) illustrate the dispersion relation of the modes TE1  TE5 for h=(1,5)mm,
respectively. Generally, the lower order modes appear at the beginning of the normalized
frequency range followed by the highest order modes. The first mode TE1 appears to show
abnormal characteristics, unlike other modes. At the beginning, this abnormal mode shows a
large potential for forward propagation and then decreases as the normalized frequency
increases. All other modes achieve forward propagation at the first and then turn backwards into
corresponding values of neff . It is evident from the figures that the percentage of convexity to

the left decreases with the increase of the mode order, while the increase of h increases the
proportion of convexity. This behavior is due to the increased influence of the central layer.
As a comparison between this behavior in the Figs.(5) and (6) with the behavior in the
slab waveguide with normal media, the appearance of the mode TE0 which is not shown here
will be found. On the other hand, the curves are inclined forward only and there is no convexity
on the left side, i.e. forward propagation only. These features qualified the huge applications of
metamaterials.

Fig.(5): the dispersion relation for the modes TE1  TE5 with h=1mm.

9
2nd International Scientific Conference of Al-Ayen University (ISCAU-2020) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 928 (2020) 072127 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/928/7/072127

Fig.(6): the dispersion relation for the modes TE1  TE5 with h=5mm.

Fig.(7) represents the enlarged dispersion relation of of the modes TE1  TE4 using

different values of 2 z with respect to 2 x at h=5mm. in this study, the abnormal mode TE1 is

not affected by any change in the value of 2 z unlike other modes. The enlarged picture shows

the left convex ratio. It is evident that the change of 2 z appears to be more influential as the

mode order increases. The mode shifts to the left if 2 z  2 x and vice versa. Because of modes

are so influenced by the difference between 2 z , 2 x , an anisotropic metamaterial will achieve

greater flexibility than the corresponding isotropic case.

10
2nd International Scientific Conference of Al-Ayen University (ISCAU-2020) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 928 (2020) 072127 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/928/7/072127

Fig.(7): the dispersion relation for the modes TE1  TE4

with h=5mm using different configurations of 2 z .

Fig.(8) illustrates the confinement factor at the core as a function of neff for the modes

TE1  TE4 . It’s noted that, the abnormal mode TE1 achieves a very small confinement factor
whose maximum value is achieved at the top of the convexity that it shows in the dispersion
relationship. Physically, this means, the mode will decay out of the core and only a very small
amount will remain forward. This behavior was expected to affect the other characteristics of
this mode. All other modes achieve confinement factor less than 0.5 for the forward propagation
and more than 0.5 for the backward propagation. In general, the confinement factor is greater for
the less order modes.
Figs.(9) and (10) represent the power flux as a function of neff for the modes TE1  TE4

using h=(1, 3)mm, respectively. Also, the mode TE1 is an exception that disturbs its behavior
from other patterns, the power flux decreases to the lowest possible level on the basis of its
corresponding convexity in the dispersion relation and then rises again to settle as a forward
propagation. The amount of decreasing is opposite with h. For all other modes, with the increase
of the neff , the modes begin to power flux 1 (absolute forward propagation) and then decrease

until they reach -1 (absolute backward propagation). When the power flux is zero, this means,
the light stops. For the modes TE2  TE4 , this stopping is achieved in neff  45,105,160 when

h=1mm , and neff  17, 22,33 when h=5mm. In other words, an increase in h means a decrease

in its neff value, which results in stopping light. Returning to the Fig.(4), it is the points on the

straight lines that make the light stops for different modes.

Fig.(8): the confinement factor as functions of effective refractive index with h=1mm.

11
2nd International Scientific Conference of Al-Ayen University (ISCAU-2020) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 928 (2020) 072127 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/928/7/072127

Fig.(9): the power flux for the modes TE1  TE4 with h=1mm.

Fig.(10): the power flux for the modes TE1  TE4 with h=3mm.

5. Conclusions
As a conclusion, increasing the thickness of the metamaterial layer with a negative
refractive index led to increase the convexity of the mode curve to the left. The mode TE1 is an

abnormal in all its properties compared to the other modes. By making 2 z  2 x , the curve of

the modes TE2 and higher shifts to the left. The range of neff that achieves forward propagation

(positive power flux) increases with the mode order and the decrease of distance h. The neff

value which causes the stopped light decreases with h distance or decreasing the mode order.
The confinement factor for all modes increases the core by increasing neff , except for the mode

TE2 , which achieves a very weak confinement factor and is decay outside the core.

References
[1] W. Wong-Ng and C. Rawn, “Crystallography of functional materials”, Crystals7,279, 2017.
[2] I. Nefedov and S. Tretyakov, “Waveguide containing a backward-wave slab”, Radio
Sci 38, 6, pp.1101–1110, 2003.

12
2nd International Scientific Conference of Al-Ayen University (ISCAU-2020) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 928 (2020) 072127 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/928/7/072127

[3] B. Wu, T. Grzegorczyk, Y. Zhang and J. Kong, “Guided modes with imaginary transverse
wavenumber in a slab waveguide with negative permittivity and permeability”, J. Appl
Phys 93, pp.9386–9388 , 2003.
[4] K. Okamoto, ”Fundamentals of optical waveguides”, 2nd edition, Elsevier, Academic press,
2006.
[5] I. Shadrivov, A. Sukhorukov and A. Kivshar, “Guided modes in negative refractive-index
waveguides”, Phys Rev E 67, 57602, 2003.
[6] A. Lay-Ekuakille, “Optical waveguiding and applied photonics”, Springer, 2016.
[7] X. Tong, “Advanced materials for integrated optical waveguides”, Springer, 2014.
[8] S. Taya, and K. Elwasife, “Guided modes in a metal-clad waveguide comprising a left-handed
material as a guiding layer”, IJRRAS 13 (1), pp.294-305, 2012.
[9] H. Ramza, F. Nasimi, K. Ishak and M. Ab-Rahman, “Analysis of TE (Transverse Electric)
modes of symmetric slab waveguide”, Advanced Studies in Theoretical Physics, 6(25-28),
pp.1323-1336., 2012.
[10] H. Ashour, “TE modal dispersion in dielectric slab waveguide with lossy left-handed
metamaterial”, Journal of Modern Physics, 4, pp.1165-1170, 2013.
[11] D. Smith, W. Padilla, D. Vier, S. Nemat-Nasser and S. Schultz, “Composite medium with
simultaneously negative permeability and permittivity”, Phys Rev Lett 84, pp.4184–4187,
2000.
[12] M. Mojahedi, K. Malloy, G. Eleftheriades, J. Woodley and R. Chiao, ”Abnormal wave
propagation in passive media”, IEEE J. Sel Top Quant Electron 9, pp.30–39, 2003.
[13] Z. Wang and J. Dong, “Analysis o guided modes in asymmetric left-handed slab
waveguides”, Progress in Electromagnetics Research, 62, pp.203-215., 2006.
[14] T. Visser, B. Demeulenaere, J. Haes, J.,D. Lenstra, R. Baets and H. Blok, “Confinement
and modal gain in dielectric waveguides”. Journal of lightwave technology, 14(5), pp.885-887,
1996.
[15] X. Sun, M. Alam, M. Mojahedi and J. Aitchison, “Confinement and integration density of
plasmonic waveguides”, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, 21(4),
pp.268-275, 2014.

13