Theorems Determining Reciprocal and Nonreciprocal Properties of Negative Refractive Bi-Crystal Heterostructures

One of the most interesting questions in regard to the negative refractive bicrystal heterostructure is what multi-terminal electronic characteristics it may possess. The heterostructure possesses a symmetry breaking operation creating asymmetric fields associated with the SO(2) rotation group [1]. Two terminal behavior may be addressed by examining generalized theorems for complex anisotropic media [2]. Applying the anisotropic reaction theorem to subregions of the heterostructure, and then to the composite structure, we find that passive nonreciprocity [3] is not possible while active nonreciprocity is possible as mentioned in [4]. Possible device applications include beam steering, and isolation devices requiring direction sensing control. Simulations show what happens to the asymmetry when making the heterostructure macroscopically using LINbO3 crystals versus using nanostructure technology which would work with ferroelectric films deposited by MBE. A fabrication effort used to build the structure, with metal patterning to test a derivative property of the asymmetry, namely terminal reciprocity/nonreciprocity, will be discussed too [5]. [1] C. M. Krowne, PRL 93, 053902, 30 July 2004. [2] C. M. Krowne, IEEE Trans. Ant. Propag. 32, 1224 Nov. 1984, [3] C. M. Krowne, IEEE Trans. MTT 53, 1345, 2005, [4] C. M. Krowne, arXiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0408369, 17 Aug. 2004. [5] Private commun. S. W. Kirchoefer, J. A. Bellotti, and J. M. Pond, 2005.