Abstract:
The dispersion laws of electromagnetic waves in layered periodic metal-dielectric structures with anisotropic metal layers have been theoretically analyzed. It has been found that the anisotropy of metal layers is responsible for the appearance of additional allowed energy bands for photons. It has been shown that these bands correspond to plasma (Langmuir) waves propagating in anisotropic metal layers of the structure. Conditions under which the directions of group and phase velocities of Langmuir waves coincide or are opposite have been determined. It has been shown that the penetration of the electromagnetic field of Langmuir waves into dielectric layers is exponentially weak and this field is primarily concentrated in metal layers, where it oscillates in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the layers.