Open AccessLeft/right asymmetry of the dipole field due to reflection from a periodic multilayer of a topological insulator and a columnar thin film
Author(s) -
Antonio Scaglione,
Francesco Chiadini,
V. Fiumara,
Akhlesh Lakhtakia
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.391105
Subject(s) - asymmetry , dipole , electric field , optics , topological insulator , condensed matter physics , thin film , physics , materials science , polar , reflection (computer programming) , insulator (electricity) , electric dipole moment , optoelectronics , quantum mechanics , computer science , programming language
The problem of a vertical electric dipole radiating above a periodic multilayer whose unit cell comprises a layer of a topological insulator (TI) and a columnar thin film (CTF) was solved in order to investigate the left/right asymmetry of the total electric field in the far zone in the half-space containing the dipole. Occurring in a wide range of the polar observation angle, the left/right asymmetry of E ϕ is due to both the CTFs and the TI layers. Occurring in a narrow range of the polar observation angle, the left/right asymmetry of E θ is entirely due to the TI layers. For presently available values of the magnitude of the surface admittance γ TI of TIs, significant left/right asymmetry occurs if the number of unit cells in the periodic TI/CTF multilayer is high enough.