Abstract

According to the energy streamline method, refraction of energy flow of the transverse magnetic (electric) polarized electromagnetic waves occurring at the lossy/lossless interface may be either positive or negative, depending on the sign of the real part of permittivity (permeability) of the lossy medium. On the other hand, based on the reflection and refraction formulas developed by us, it is demonstrated that refraction behaviors of the electromagnetic wave occurring at the lossy/lossless interface relate to the difference between the electric damping angle and the magnetic angle of the lossy medium. Furthermore, the two-dimensional transmission lines with adjustable effective permittivity and permeability are proposed to be applied to experimentally test these predictions. This work systematically provides the basic refraction properties of electromagnetic waves occurring at lossy/lossless interfaces; it may be useful to further understand the observed refraction behaviors associated with the lossy interfaces and fully test the validity of reflection and refraction theories.

© 2015 Optical Society of America

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