Voigt waves in bianisotropic materials

Voigt波传播是一种由某些各向异性介质材料支持的不同寻常的电磁平面波传播形式。它可以根据幅度衰减率与标准电磁学和光学教科书中遇到的平面波传播的通常形式区分开来。也就是说，Voigt波的衰减与传播距离呈线性关系，而在通常的平面波传播情况下，Voigt波的衰减随传播距离呈指数衰减。与各向异性材料相比，双各向异性材料为Voigt波的传播提供了更大的范围，这是因为电场和磁场之间的内在耦合以及与双各向异性材料相关的更大的本构参数空间。对于某些类型的物理可实现的双各向异性材料，将推导出Voigt波的传播条件。这些双各向异性材料将采用工程材料的形式，这些工程材料是由可能本身不支持Voigt波传播的相对简单的成分材料的均质化而产生的。此外，对于由电光元件材料产生的某些双各向异性材料，通过外加直流电场来控制Voigt波传播方向的前景将被研究。还将探讨利用双各向异性材料中的Voigt波进行光学传感应用的前景。此外，对于由活性成分材料产生的某些双各向异性材料，还将研究实现幅度与传播距离成线性关系的Voigt波的前景。

Voigt-wave propagation represents an unusual form of electromagnetic plane-wave propagation that is supported by certain anisotropic dielectric materials. It may be distinguished from the usual form of plane-wave propagation, as encountered in standard textbooks on electromagnetics and optics, on the basis of rate of amplitude decay. That is, the decay of Voigt waves exhibits a linear dependency on propagation distance whereas in the usual case of plane-wave propagation there is exponential decay with propagation distance. Bianisotropic materials offer much greater scope for Voigt-wave propagation than do anisotropic materials, because of the intrinsic coupling between electric and magnetic fields and the much larger constitutive parameter space that is associated with bianisotropic materials. Conditions for Voigt-wave propagation will be derived for certain types of physically-realizable bianisotropic materials. These bianisotropic materials will take the form of engineered materials that arise from the homogenization of relatively simple component materials that may not themselves support Voigt-wave propagation. Furthermore, the prospects of controlling the directions in which Voigt waves propagate by means of an applied DC electric field will be investigated for certain bianisotropic materials arising from electro-optic component materials. The prospects of harnessing Voigt waves in bianisotropic materials for optical sensing application will also be investigated. In addition, the prospects of realizing Voigt waves which exhibit a linear gain in amplitude with propagation distance will be investigated for certain bianisotropic materials arising from active component materials.