Effective negative refractive index in ferromagnet-semiconductor superlattices

Problem of anomalous refraction of electromagnetic waves is analyzed in a superlattice which consists of alternating layers of ferromagnetic insulator and nonmagnetic semiconductor. Effective permittivity and permeability tensors are derived in the presence of an external magnetic field parallel to the plane of the layers. It is shown that in the case of the Voigt configuration, the structure behaves as a left-handed medium with respect to TE-type polarized wave, in the low-frequency region of propagation. The relative orientation of the Poynting vector and the refractive wave vector is examined in different frequency ranges. It is shown that the frequency region of existence for the backward mode can be changed using external magnetic field as tuning parameter. (c) 2006 Optical Society of America.