Experimental Verification of Epsilon-Near-Zero Metamaterial Coupling and Energy Squeezing Using a Microwave Waveguide

Brian Edwards, University of Pennsylvania
Andrea Alů, University of Pennsylvania
Michael E. Young, University of Pennsylvania
Mário Silveirinha, Universidade de Coimbra
Nader Engheta, University of Pennsylvania

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Copyright American Physical Society. Published in Physical Review Letters, Volume 100, Issue 3, Article 033903, January 2008, 4 pages.
Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.033903

Abstract

Utilizing a microwave setup, we experimentally verify our recently developed theory of energy squeezing and tunneling [Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 157403 (2006)] through an ultranarrow waveguide channel that mimics zero-permittivity properties. Exploiting the infinite phase velocity supported by a waveguide transition section at cutoff, we test our theory of tunneling in this zero-permittivity region without use of resonant inclusions. This "supercoupling" is shown to have unique anomalous properties: an almost uniform phase along the narrow channel and weak dependence over its geometry.