DefinePK

Abstract

Chiral media, which are found in both natural and synthetic metamaterials, possess unique and remarkable optical characteristics that arise from their inherent structural asymmetry. The behavior of electromagnetic surface waves (EMSWs) at the chiral and magnetized plasma interface are theoretically analyzed. The numerical results are obtained to examine the impact of chirality and plasma characteristics on hybrid EMSWs in the terahertz (THz) frequency region. Results suggest that chirality and magnetized plasma parameters (plasma frequency and cyclotron frequency) have a pivotal role in the modeling and precise tuning of the EMSWs. It is found that higher chirality result in an increased effective mode index, which can be reduced by raising the plasma frequency and cyclotron frequency. The numerical results demonstrate a strong dependence of the effective mode index on the operating frequency. Therefore, the characteristics of EMSWs can be tuned by controlling the above mentioned parameters. It is demonstrated that EMSWs at the proposed model exhibit unique characteristics as compared to conventional EMSWs at a dielectric-metal interface. Moreover, to verify the authenticity of the EMSW traits, the field profiles for the chiral medium are also presented. This work holds promising potential for fascinating applications in the nanophotonic community, particularly in the development of high-density nanophotonic chips and advanced chiral sensing systems operating in the THz frequency range.