title: Enhanced diffraction from a grating on the surface of a negative-index metamaterial.
abstract: We show by numerical simulation as well as by measurements on negative-index metamaterial wedge samples, that the unavoidable stepping of the refraction interface-due to the finite unit-cell size inherent to metamaterials-can give rise to a well-defined diffracted beam in addition to the negatively refracted beam. The direction of the diffracted beam is consistent with elementary diffraction theory; however, the coupling to this higher order beam is much larger than would be the case for a positive index material. The results confirm recent theoretical predictions of enhanced diffraction for negative-index grating surfaces.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA.
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Rye
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Mock
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Vier
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Starr