Reversed Cherenkov radiation in unbounded anisotropic double-negative metamaterials

Abstract

Cherenkov radiation (CR) for a charged particle travelling in unbounded anisotropic double-negative metamaterials (DNMs) is theoretically investigated to obtain the analytical expressions for the CR condition, phase and group angles and reversed CR. The spectral density and total radiated energy per unit length of path are derived using rigorous field theory. As a specific example, the influences of loss and the effective plasma frequency of anisotropic DNMs on the total radiated energy are also discussed. It turns out that the wave vector and time-averaged Poynting vector in anisotropic DNMs are not exactly anti-parallel, and the phase and group angles, the spectral density and the total radiated energy in this case are different from those in isotropic DNMs.