Electromagnetic energy within single-resonance chiral metamaterial spheres

J Opt Soc Am A Opt Image Sci Vis. 2013 Jun 1;30(6):1205-12. doi: 10.1364/JOSAA.30.001205.

Abstract

We derive an exact expression for the time-averaged electromagnetic (EM) energy inside a chiral dispersive sphere irradiated by a plane wave. The dispersion relations correspond to a chiral metamaterial consisting of uncoupled single-resonance helical resonators. Using a field decomposition scheme and a general expression for the EM energy density in bianisotropic media, we calculate the Lorenz-Mie solution for the internal fields in a medium that is simultaneously magnetic and chiral. We also obtain an explicit analytical relation between the internal EM energy and the absorption cross section. This result is applied to demonstrate that strong chirality leads to an off-resonance field enhancement within weakly absorbing spheres.