Nonlinear waves in metamaterials: state of the art

摘要

Guided waves in metamaterials are attracting attention, even though, experimentally, there remain some substantial questions about the fabrication of wave guides. Nonlinear guided optical waves have always been attractive for their device potential, so the development of nonlinear waves in metamaterials is an important direction to take and this is the basis of the discussion put forward by this paper. Given an effective medium starting point, it is possible to highlight the metamaterial influences upon both exact nonlinear waves and the soliton behaviour that is characteristic of the weakly nonlinear regime. This paper progresses through a number of priorities that have been discussed in the literature. The outcomes are rapidly reviewed from the point of view of putting the field into the context of both strongly nonlinear waves and spatial solitons, since both scenarios emphasise the role of metamaterial control. Finally, the possibility of using magneto-optics as an external control to modify the metamaterial influences is briefly displayed.