title: Theory of fishnet negative-index optical metamaterials.
abstract: We theoretically study fishnet metamaterials at optical frequencies. In contrast with earlier works, we provide a microscopic description by tracking the transversal and longitudinal flows of energy through the fishnet mesh composed of intersecting subwavelength plasmonic waveguides. The analysis is supported by a semianalytical model based on surface-plasmon coupled-mode equations, which provides accurate formulas for the fishnet refractive index, including the real-negative and imaginary parts. The model simply explains how the surface plasmons couple at the waveguide intersections, and it shines new light on the fishnet negative-index paradigm at optical frequencies. Extension of the theory for loss-compensated metamaterials with gain media is also presented.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Charles Fabry de l'Institut d'Optique, CNRS, Université Paris Sud, Campus Polytechnique, RD128, 91127 Palaiseau, France.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sauvan
authors.forename: H T
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lalanne