OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF NANOSTRUCTURED METAMATERIALS

We present a very efficient recursive method to calculate the effective optical response of nano-structured metamaterials made up of particles with arbitrarily shaped crOBS sections arranged in periodic two or three-dimensional arrays. We consider dielectric particles embedded in a metal matrix with a lattice constant much smaller than the wavelength of the incident field. Neglecting retardation our formalism allows factoring the geometrical properties from the properties of the materials. If the conducting phase is continuous the low frequency behavior is metallic. If the conducting paths are nearly blocked by the dielectric particles, the high frequency behavior is dielectric. Thus, extraordinary-reflectance and transparent bands may develop at intermediate frequencies, whose properties may be tuned by adjusting the geometry.