Miniaturized backward coupler realized by the circuit-based magnetic hyperbolic waveguide

Abstract: Planar waveguides can limit the transmission of electromagnetic waves in a specific direction and have a wide range of applications in filters, sensors, and energy-transfer devices. However, given the increasing demand for planar integrated photonics, new waveguides are required with excellent characteristics such as more functionality, greater efficiency, and smaller size. In this work, we report the experimental results for a subwavelength planar microwave-regime waveguide fabricated from circuit-based magnetic hyperbolic metamaterial (HMM) and develop the associated theory. HMM is a special type of anisotropic metamaterial whose isofrequency contour (IFC) takes the form of an open hyperboloid. Because of the open-dispersion IFCs, HMMs support propagating high-k modes with large effective refractive indices, which allows planar hyperbolic waveguides to be miniaturized. In particular, as opposed to the traditional dielectric slab waveguide, the group velocity of the hyperbolic guided modes is negative-a characteristic that can be exploited to realize the backward propagation of electromagnetic waves. Furthermore, we study the abnormal photonic spin Hall effect and experimentally demonstrate an ultracompact backward coupler based on hyperbolic waveguides. The experimental results are consistent with numerical simulations. This work not only reveals the significant potential of circuit-based platforms for the experimental study of the propagation and coupling of guided modes but also promotes the use of HMMs in the microwave regime for numerous integrated functional devices.