Example of bianisotropic electromagnetic crystals: the spiral medium.

In this paper the electromagnetic properties of bianisotropic electromagnetic crystals are studied. The crystals are assumed to be rectangular lattices of perfectly conducting helicoidal spirals. The analytical theory of dispersion and plane-wave reflection refers to the case when the spiral step and the radius are small compared to the wavelengths in the host medium. The periods of the lattice can be arbitrary. Explicit closed-form expressions are derived for the effective material parameters of the medium in the low-frequency regime. The medium eigenmodes are elliptically polarized, and one of them propagates without interaction with the lattice. As to the other eigenmode, the lattice has strong spatial dispersion even at extremely low frequencies in the direction along the spiral axes. Numerical examples are given. An analogy between the spiral medium and the medium of loaded wires is indicated.