Anomalous Reflection from Hyperbolic Media
Ilya Deriy,
Kseniia Lezhennikova,
Stanislav B. Glybovski,
Ivan Iorsh,
Oleh Y. Yermakov,
Mingzhao Song,
Redha Abdeddaim,
Stefan Enoch,
Pavel A. Belov and
Andrey A. Bogdanov
Despite the apparent simplicity, the problem of refraction of electromagnetic waves at the planar interface between two media has an incredibly rich spectrum of unusual phenomena. An example is the paradox when an electromagnetic wave impinges on the interface between a hyperbolic medium and an isotropic dielectric. At specific orientations of the optical axis of the hyperbolic medium relative to the interface, the reflected and transmitted waves can can disappear entirely, which contradicts reciprocity. In this paper, we analyze the above mentioned paradox and present its resolution by introducing infinitesimal losses in the hyperbolic medium. We show that the reflected wave exists but becomes ultimately localized at the interface when the losses become vanishing. Consequently, all the energy scattered into the reflected channel is absorbed near the interface. We support our reasoning with analytical calculations, numerical simulations, and an experiment with self-complementary metasurfaces in the microwave range.
