Absorption effects on the longitudinal bulk plasmon-polariton modes in 1D heterostructures containing anisotropic metamaterials

The transmission properties of electromagnetic waves through a one-dimensional layered system containing alternate layers of air and a uniaxial anisotropic left-handed material are investigated. The optical axis of such heterostructure is along the stacking direction and the components of the electric permittivity and magnetic permeability tensors that characterize the metamaterial are modeled by a Drude-type response and a split-ring resonator metamaterial response, respectively. Different plasmon frequencies are considered for directions parallel and perpendicular to the optical axis. For oblique incidence, longitudinal bulk-like plasmon polariton modes are found in the neighborhood of the plasmon frequency along the optical axis and anisotropy leads to the unfolding of nearly dispersionless plasmon-polariton bands either above or below the plasmon frequency. Moreover, it is shown that, even in the presence of loss/absorption, these plasmon polariton modes do survive and, therefore, should be experimentally detected.